EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The eighth-ranked Bellarmine University women's basketball team concluded the USI Thanksgiving Classic on Sunday with a workmanlike 73-55 victory over Young Harris.

Senior guards Destony Curry and Whitney Hartlage and junior forward Beth Bowers all had 14 points for Bellarmine (6-0), which led from start to finish. Junior guard Raven Merriweather added 13 points as the Knights built a 23-point lead in the second half against the Mountain Lions (2-3), who kept within range of Bellarmine for most of the game behind double-doubles from Meredith Tarver (19 points, 14 rebounds) and Jenny Vernet (16 points, 12 rebounds).

As Tarver's and Vernet's rebounding totals suggest, Young Harris aggressively attacked the boards. The Mountain Lions ended up outrebounding Bellarmine by only one, 41-40, but they ripped down 18 offensive rebounds and had 25 second-chance points.

It was that effort, along with grabbing the majority of loose balls, which kept Bellarmine from putting the contest out of reach early. A strong opening quarter staked the Knights to a 23-13 lead, but Bellarmine didn't build upon its advantage in the second period and took a 39-29 edge into halftime.

An 8-0 run in the third quarter where four different Knights accounted for the points pushed Bellarmine's lead to 15. A nice move and jumper in the paint from freshman guard Katie Downey capped a 6-0 run to start the fourth as the Knights boosted the lead to 66-44 with 6:58 left.

Bellarmine did make Young Harris pay for its 20 turnovers, as the Knights scored 30 points off of them. Curry collected five of the Knights' eight steals.

Bellarmine will play at Illinois Springfield on Thursday and at McKendree on Saturday as the Knights open Great Lakes Valley Conference action.

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