LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Hailey Diestelkamp had 24 points and 10 rebounds as second-ranked Drury defeated the Bellarmine University women's basketball team 86-61 on Thursday in Great Lakes Valley Conference play in Knights Hall.

Junior guard Mikayla Berry paced Bellarmine (8-8, 2-6 GLVC) with 12 points while junior guard Katie Downey added 11 points and freshman guard Kathleen Scott 10 against the undefeated Panthers (18-0, 8-0). Berry, Scott and junior forward Mallory Schwartz tallied three steals apiece.

Steals were a big part of the game. Led by Lauren Holmes' eight and Diestelkamp's five, Drury piled up 22 thefts. Bellarmine racked up 15. The result was 32 turnovers for the Knights and 27 for the Panthers.

Drury had a 32-22 edge in points off turnovers, but the Panthers' biggest advantage came on the boards as they won that battle 51-34, with 22 of those being of the offensive variety. The margin of victory was also the result of better free throw shooting: Drury knocked down 22-of-30 attempts from the charity stripe while the Knights hit just 13-of-24 opportunities. There were a mountainous 53 fouls called.

Bellarmine shot 50 percent in the first half, and yet Drury still managed to establish a 47-34 lead at halftime. The problem was the Panthers attempted nine more shots than the Knights behind 11 offensive rebounds and forcing 13 turnovers. Drury turned those takeaways into 19 points.

Drury built on its halftime advantage in the third quarter and led 68-48 heading into the fourth. The Panthers led by as many as 27 in the final period.

Daejah Bernard distributed 10 assists for Drury. Payton Richards contributed 14 points, Azia Lynch added 13 and Brooke Stanfield chipped in 10.

Bellarmine hosts Missouri S&T at 1 p.m. (ET) Saturday.

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