INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis senior point guard Martha Burse possessed the dazzling stats line, but Bellarmine freshman point guard
Breia Torrens sparked the defining run.
Torrens helped account for the first seven points in a game-closing 15-0 run that propelled the Knights women's basketball team to a 75-59 victory over the Greyhounds on Thursday at Nicoson Hall in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.
Senior forward and Indianapolis native
Beth Bowers scored 18 points for Bellarmine (11-8, 6-4 GLVC), which has won three straight games. Senior guard
Raven Merriweather chipped in 12 points and junior center
Liza Tibbs added 10 against UIndy (6-14, 3-7), which received a game-high 29 points from Burse. The Knights posted a road win over the Greyhounds for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
"We exorcised some demons over here," Bellarmine Coach
Chancellor Dugan said. "It's been a while since we've won here. It was a really good team effort."
Rebounding proved crucial for Bellarmine. The Knights had a commanding 46-30 advantage on the boards, including 18 offensive rebounds. Tibbs, Merriweather, Bowers, sophomore forward
Mallory Schwartz, sophomore guard
Mikayla Berry, sophomore guard
Katie Downey and sophomore forward
Allison Van Dyke each had five rebounds or more.
In a seesaw game, Indianapolis cut an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit to one on a layup by Burse with 4:39 left. Torrens, who hadn't scored to that point, converted a basket off a feed from Schwartz. On the next trip, she drilled a 3-pointer. Torrens followed by firing a pass down low to Van Dyke, who was fouled and sank two free throws for a 67-59 lead with 3:12 left.
Berry pushed the advantage to double digits with a pair of free throws, Merriweather drained a pair from the charity stripe and Torrens stuck a layup. Bowers capped the 15-0 run over the final 4:25 with a lay-in. Indianapolis went 0 for 7 from the field during that scoreless stretch.
The GLVC's second-leading scorer, Burse scored 17 of her 29 points in the first quarter. She went 6 for 6 from the floor in the period, but the Knights held her to 5-for-15 shooting over the final three periods.
"I think in the second half we were more purposeful and intent on playing good defense," Dugan said.
Despite Burse's hot start, Bellarmine led 22-19 after one quarter and 41-31 at halftime. UIndy cut its deficit to 51-48 after three periods.
Bellarmine plays at 2 p.m. (ET) Saturday at Missouri-St. Louis.
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