NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Bellarmine University women's basketball team opened its 2016-17 season by taking on the Vanderbilt Commodores in an exhibition game at Memorial Gymnasium, falling 97-63 to the Southeastern Conference team.
 
The Knights did a solid job of competing, but the host Commodores outshot their guests 51.4 percent to just 37 percent and outrebounded the Knights 48-43.
 
Bellarmine Coach Chancellor Dugan was pleased with the Knights' effort, especially through the first three quarters of the game.  
 
"I thought for 30 minutes we fought as hard as we could," Dugan said. "That last 10 minutes we just got sloppy with the ball, but I think there's a lot we can build on for sure." 
 
At half, the Knights trailed 38-25 but put up seven more shots than Vanderbilt.   However, Bellarmine connected on just 11 of their 41 field goal attempts including going just one of 14 from 3-point range.
 
The Knights finally found their shooting touch in the third quarter, making 10 of 16 from the field and three of their four trifectas.  The Commodores closed with a vengeance, making 57 percent of their shots in the fourth quarter to outscore the Knights by 15 in the final stanza.
 
Vanderbilt, under first year coach Stephanie White, got a balanced scoring attack with six players scoring in double digits, led by freshman Cierra Walker's 18 points.
 
The Knights were paced by Raven Merriweather, who scored a team-high 14 points and yanked down seven rebounds.  Kelsey Adwell had a solid game from her point guard position with six assists, seven rebounds and two points with just two turnovers.
 
Also reaching double digits for the Knights was Destony Curry with 10 points, and Liza Tibbs was a bright spot for Bellarmine, scoring eight points on 4-of-5 shooting in just eight minutes of action.
 
Bellarmine's next outside competition will be their regular season opener on Nov. 11 at Ferris State.
 
BOX SCORE (PDF)