LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It was the perfect palate cleanser for the Bellarmine University women's basketball team.
On Thursday night in Freedom Hall, Coach
Chancellor Dugan earned the 150th win of her career at Bellarmine as the Knights rolled to a 105-48 victory over Spalding.
Coming off a discouraging loss at future ASUN rival Austin Peay, Bellarmine (2-7) got back on track by scoring the most points in Dugan's 10 years with the program. The Knights topped the 104 points they scored in an overtime win over Glenville State in the 2018-19 campaign.
"It's nice to have a 'W' in the column," Dugan said. "Every little fundamental we could work on defensively in practice the last three days we worked on. And they embraced it and really relished it. We probably had our best three practices this season."
Bellarmine tied a program record by burying 15 3-pointers, which had occurred on three occasions but not since 1996. The Knights also threatened the program record for field-goal percentage, with their 66.7-percent output falling just short of the 68.3 performance against Purdue Fort Wayne in 2001.
Sophomore guard
Mackenzie Keelin poured in a career-high 25 points on 9-for-12 shooting, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range. Junior guard
Jaela Johnson was also red hot from deep, nailing four of her five attempts from beyond the arc and 7-of-9 overall in scoring 20 points with four steals.
"They really had a great shooting night, and their teammates looked for them," Dugan said.
Senior guard
Presley Brown dished out a career-high 10 assists, blocked a career-best three shots and added 11 points while recording the first double-double of her career. Senior forward
Sheniqua Coatney tallied 16 points on 8-for-10 shooting and notched a career-high three steals. Freshman forward
Haley Stoklosa registered Bellarmine's fifth double-digit scoring effort with 11 points.
Bellarmine's shooting was unwaveringly excellent. The Knights shot 63.2 percent in the first quarter, 68.8 in the second, 73.3 in the third and 61.5 in the fourth.
Bellarmine piled up 29 assists on 42 made baskets, scored 50 points in the paint, had a 30-7 advantage in points off turnovers and a 20-0 edge in fast-break points. The Knights led 32-14 after one quarter and never looked back.
"We did what we needed to do; we handled our business and I was pleased," Dugan said. "The 29 assists on 42 baskets was great. I thought we did a good job making that extra pass."
Natalie Fichter, whose dad Brian was an All-Conference player for the Bellarmine men in 1990, led Spalding with 17 points behind five 3-pointers.
Bellarmine plays at 6:30 p.m. (ET) Monday at Ball State.
"We want to build on this," Dugan said. "The things we're doing well, we've just got to keep doing those things."
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights) and Facebook (BUKnights).