LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A poor start doomed the Bellarmine University women's basketball team in an 81-55 loss to Lewis on Saturday in Great Lakes Valley Conference play in Knights Hall.

Senior guard Raven Merriweather posted a double-double with 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for Bellarmine (3-3, 0-1 GLVC) in its conference debut. Sophomore guard Mikayla Berry and junior center Liza Tibbs chipped in eight points apiece against Lewis (5-3, 1-1).

All-American Jessica Kelliher had a monster scoring effort with 30 points on 15-of-20 shooting for the Flyers, who stormed out to a 29-11 lead after one quarter. Rachel Hinders added 16 points for Lewis, which shot 58.6 percent from the floor.

Lewis led 10-0 at the outset before sophomore forward Allison Van Dyke sank a jumper for Bellarmine. The Flyers then scored the next 10 points to take a 20-2 lead after roughly four minutes. They ended up hitting 13 of their 19 shots (68.4 percent) in the opening quarter in building an 18-point lead.

Bellarmine cut its deficit to 14 midway through the second period, but Lewis took a 44-25 lead into halftime. The Knights never got closer than 15 in the second half.

Led by Kelliher, Lewis had a 54-22 advantage in points in the paint. The Knights forced nearly as many turnovers as the Flyers (19-18), but Bellarmine didn't capitalize in the same manner as Lewis did — the Flyers had a 21-3 advantage in points off turnovers.

Bellarmine hosts Wisconsin-Parkside at 5:45 p.m. (ET) Thursday.

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