LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new league member and the top-ranked unit in the nation are on tap this week for the Bellarmine University women's basketball team.
The Knights (9-4, 4-4 Great Lakes Valley Conference) will remain at home, hosting Southwest Baptist (9-7, 3-5) at 5:45 p.m. (ET) Thursday before welcoming No. 1 Drury (17-0, 8-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Bellarmine is coming off a taxing week of GLVC action as the Knights played three games over five days. It started with promise as Bellarmine trounced visiting Missouri-St. Louis 70-52 on Thursday. However, the Knights fell 78-67 to Lindenwood on the road Saturday and followed with a 55-53 overtime loss to visiting Indianapolis on Monday.
Known for taking control of close games in the final quarter, Bellarmine faltered in the fourth period against Lindenwood and Indianapolis. The former, in which the Knights were outscored 26-16 in the final stanza, allowed the Lions to pull away. The latter, in which Bellarmine was topped 20-13 in the fourth, led to the Greyhounds rallying to force overtime and eventually claim the win despite trailing by 13 at halftime.
Breia Torrens reached 20 points for the third time in four games after posting 21 against Lindenwood. The junior guard has led Bellarmine in scoring in four of the last five contests. She's averaging a team-high 14.3 points per game, and junior guard
Tasia Jeffries is next at 10.3. Senior forward
Mallory Schwartz is pulling down a team-best 6.1 rebounds, grabbing six or more in her last seven outings.
Southwest Baptist joined the GLVC this season after previously being a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The Bearcats may be under .500 in GLVC play, but two of the losses came to undefeated Drury, including Monday's 95-64 home setback. Southwest Baptist fell 82-66 at Maryville on Saturday but defeated Missouri S&T 85-78 on the road Thursday.
Bailey Rezabek is the GLVC's fourth-leading scorer at 18.6 points per game, and Kyleigh Vaught is averaging 11.3. That duo has combined to sink 63 3-pointers. With the pair as catalysts, Southwest Baptist is dangerous from beyond the arc, ranking second in the conference in 3-pointers made per game (8.1).
Drury has picked up where it left off in going 35-1 last season and advancing to the Final Four. The Panthers lead the GLVC in scoring offense (83.9, fifth in nation) and scoring defense (61.1). Drury is actually near the bottom of the league in field-goal percentage defense, but the Panthers are a terror when it comes to creating turnovers. Drury forces 30.4 per game and its turnover margin is plus-14.2, both of which rank first nationally. The Panthers average a nation's-best 17.0 steals per game.
Hailey Diestelkamp, who last season was named national Player of the Year by the WBCA, is fifth in the GLVC at 17.5 points per game. Daejah Bernard is the conference leader in steals (2.7) and is second in assists (4.9). Paige Robinson is averaging 12.4 points for Drury, which met Bellarmine in the GLVC Tournament finals last season.
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