LIBERTY, Mo. — The Bellarmine University women's basketball team rallied from a big fourth-quarter deficit, but William Jewell turned back the Knights 63-60 on Saturday at the Mabee Center in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

Senior forward Beth Bowers hit 6-of-8 shots and all four free throws in scoring a team-high 17 points with six rebounds and three steals for Bellarmine (7-6, 2-2 GLVC). Senior guard Raven Merriweather chipped in 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals against William Jewell (7-5, 4-1).

Bellarmine trailed by 12 early in the fourth quarter, but the Knights used an 18-6 run to surge back and knot the score at 58 with 2:32 left. Two minutes later, Bellarmine called timeout trailing 61-60. Merriweather nearly delivered the go-ahead basket, but her runner in the lane rimmed out.

Kayla Harrell, who scored a game-high 26 points, hit a pair of free throws with three seconds left for a 63-60 lead. After a timeout, the Knights missed a tying 3-point attempt as time expired.

The shooting statistics were very similar. Both teams hit 22 field goals and 14 free throws. William Jewell sank three more 3-pointers than Bellarmine, accounting for the three-point difference, but rebounding may have been the Cardinals' primary asset in the win. They corralled 16 offensive rebounds in gaining a 13-3 advantage in second-chance points.

Bellarmine took a 12-11 lead after one quarter as the teams combined for 15 turnovers in the opening period. They were then deadlocked at 29 at halftime in a game that would see five ties and 11 lead changes. William Jewell created some distance in the third quarter with a 9-0 run.

Freshman guard Breia Torrens scored all seven of her points in the fourth-quarter run that tied the game. She began the spurt with a pair of free throws and capped it by draining a game-tying 3-pointer. The Knights attacked the basket in the final period and were rewarded with 14 free throws in the frame. They sank 12 of them.

Bellarmine plays Thursday at Lewis.

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