DeLAND, Fla. — Stetson managed to turn back a spirited rally by the Bellarmine University women's basketball team in the fourth quarter as the Hatters held off the Knights for a 64-53 win Thursday in ASUN action at the Edmunds Center.

Bailee Harney racked up a game-high 21 points for Bellarmine (3-15, 0-7 ASUN), finishing just two points shy of matching her career best. The senior guard went 9-for-16 from the floor in setting a new career high for field goals made, and she was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Harney has led Bellarmine in scoring in five of the last six games.

"She's looking for her shot, and she's so confident," Knights Coach Chancellor Dugan said. "And her teammates are looking for her. She also really played good defense tonight."

Stetson (10-10, 3-4) built an 18-point lead approximately three minutes into the fourth quarter, but Harney drilled a 3-pointer that triggered an 8-0 run for Bellarmine. The Knights were then within 58-51 on a basket by senior guard Presley Brown with 1:18 left and followed with a steal on the press, but the Hatters quickly poked the ball away in coming up with a steal of their own.

Yazz Wazeerud-Din sank a pair of free throws to halt the comeback bid. Stetson was 24-of-30 from the free-throw line, while Bellarmine hit just three of its 13 attempts from the charity stripe. The Hatters also possessed a 51-33 rebounding advantage and amassed 19 offensive boards.

"I thought we played with a lot of spark, I saw a lot of energy," Dugan said. "We really had a lot of momentum and then we let them get offensive rebounds. Blocking out has been the story of the season. It's hard to win basketball games when you get outrebounded by that much."

Stetson held double-digit leads in both the first and second quarters, but Bellarmine finished each period strong to stay within range of the Hatters. Harney spotted sophomore forward Lucy Robertson, who tallied 10 points and six rebounds, for a basket and delivered one of her own as the Knights trailed 32-25 at halftime.

The seesaw nature of the game continued in the third quarter, as Bellarmine went scoreless for over four minutes at the outset while falling behind 43-25. The Knights pushed back to within 10 on another Harney 3-pointer with 1:40 left, but Stetson closed the period on a 7-0 run to lead 52-35 heading into the fourth.

"It's always so frustrating when you play hard and do what you're supposed to do, but little things are preventing us from winning basketball games right now," Dugan said. "They're playing their tails off, they really are. We're close. We just need to get over that hump."

Bellarmine will remain in Florida and play at 4 p.m. (ET) Saturday at FGCU.

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