LIBERTY, Mo. — Sophomore guard Breia Torrens scored a career-high 17 points, but the visiting Bellarmine University women's basketball team fell 76-61 Thursday at William Jewell in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

Torrens canned seven of her eight free-throw attempts and a pair of 3-pointers for Bellarmine (8-6, 2-4 GLVC). She has scored at least 15 points in three of her last four games. Junior guard Katie Downey added 12 points and freshman guard Bailee Harney tallied three steals against William Jewell (9-5, 3-3).

Only five players scored for the Cardinals, but three of them racked up at least 20 points. Kiara Bradley scored a game-high 25, Antoinette Mussorici added 21 and Kayla Harrell contributed 20. That trio combined to hit 18-of-32 shots, including five of the team's seven 3-pointers.

A slow start hindered Bellarmine. William Jewell gained a 15-7 lead after one quarter and built a 19-point advantage in the second period before taking a 35-24 halftime edge as the Knights' shooting struggles continued.

"We didn't get off to a great start," Knights Coach Chancellor Dugan said. "We missed some easy shots. We tell them they've got to live by defense, but it just puts a pin in your bubble when you miss so many layups."

Bellarmine got within single digits on multiple occasions in the third quarter, and after a basket by senior center Liza Tibbs, the Knights cut their deficit to 54-47 early in the fourth. However, the Cardinals responded with a 9-0 run and Bellarmine was unable to recover. William Jewell has won three straight games.

"I thought we did such a great job cutting it to seven," Dugan said. "There were times we guarded our butts off. We had a lot of things to overcome, and we stayed with it. We need to keep staying with it."

William Jewell shot 47.7 percent from the field and hit 27 of its 41 free-throw attempts. Bellarmine was a strong 16 of 19 from the charity stripe but had significantly less opportunities. The Knights shot 38.9 percent.

Bellarmine plays at 2 p.m. (ET) Saturday at Rockhurst.

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