LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The No. 4 Bellarmine University women's basketball team followed its two best shooting performances of the season with its worst.

In a top 25 showdown on Thursday at Knights Hall, Bellarmine shot a season-low 24.2 percent from the field in falling 69-57 to No. 24 Lewis in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

It was the first conference setback of the season for Bellarmine (15-2, 7-1 GLVC), which saw its five-game winning streak snapped by Lewis (14-4, 6-2). Senior forward Sarah Galvin led Bellarmine with game highs of 18 points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Destony Curry added 12 points and four steals, and junior guard Raven Merriweather chipped in 11 points.

In its two previous games, Bellarmine shot 57.6 percent against Truman State and 50 percent against Southern Indiana, its two top outings of the season. The Knights went ice cold against the Flyers, recording their fewest field goals of the year (15) and their second fewest points.

Lewis, meanwhile, shot a solid 49.1 percent and owned a commanding 44-14 advantage in points in the paint. Most impressive perhaps is that the Flyers earned the win despite Jessica Kelliher, the GLVC's leading scorer, playing only 24 minutes before fouling out. She still led the team with 15 points on 7-for-7 shooting. Jamie Johnson, the league's third-leading scorer, netted all 11 of her points in the second half.

While Bellarmine had a nightmarish game from the floor, the Knights kept the contest tight until the final minutes with exceptional free-throw shooting, hitting 23 of their 28 chances (82.1 percent). Galvin was 9 of 10 from the charity stripe and Merriweather and freshman guard Mikayla Berry were both 4 for 4.

Bellarmine's shooting woes began immediately as the Knights were 2 for 16 from the floor in the first quarter, although they only trailed 10-5. Galvin, Merriweather, Curry and senior guard Kelsey Adwell all canned a 3-pointer in a much-improved second period as Bellarmine faced a 30-27 deficit.

Bellarmine struggled mightily again in the third quarter, going 3 for 14 from the field, but the Knights were 11 of 14 from the line to maintain a three-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter. Once there, though, Bellarmine's poor shooting finally did it in. A Curry steal and layup cut an eight-point deficit to four with 5:24 left, but Lewis put the game out of reach with an 8-2 run that boosted its lead to 62-52 with less than two minutes remaining.  

Bellarmine will host Wisconsin-Parkside at 1 p.m. (ET) Saturday.

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