RICHMOND, Ky. — Led by a prodigious performance from freshman Gracie Merkle, the Bellarmine University women's basketball team produced its most impressive offensive outing of the season Wednesday night in Baptist Health Arena, but Eastern Kentucky inched ahead of the Knights late to secure an 85-79 win in ASUN action.

Among the nation's leaders in field-goal percentage, Merkle hit 13 of her 14 shots in piling up a career-high 32 points with 18 rebounds for Bellarmine (4-13, 0-4 ASUN), which amassed its highest point total of the season in the first of two straight matchups with Eastern Kentucky (10-7, 3-1). It was Merkle's 10th double-double of the year.

"Last week, I thought we played tough, we played spirited, the ball just didn't go in the hole," Knights Coach Chancellor Dugan said of a three-game stretch that featured a brutal travel schedule. "When the ball doesn't go in the hole, it's tough to play on the other end. They saw the ball go in the hole tonight, and that's the difference in how we played."

Merkle's 32 points are a Division I-era program record and only one shy of tying for ninth in the overall program records. The 6-foot-6 center tied an overall program record earlier this season with 23 rebounds Simmons College of Kentucky. The 18 boards against EKU are a D1-era record against an NCAA D1 opponent. Additionally, her 13 made field goals are a D1-era record.

Sophomore guard Hayley Harrison notched 16 points and senior forward Sheniqua Coatney tallied 11 and eight rebounds for Bellarmine, which shot 47 percent from the floor and had a commanding 50-32 rebounding advantage. The Knights ripped down 20 offensive boards and scored 24 points off of them.

The conference's most prolific scoring team, Eastern Kentucky was led by Antwainette Walker, one of the early contenders for ASUN Player of the Year. She registered 26 points on 12-for-27 shooting and added 10 rebounds. Marissa Mackins added 20 points behind a 10-for-11 outing from the free-throw line.

Eastern Kentucky accumulated 28 points off turnovers, which helped mitigate its rebounding deficit. Bellarmine had 27 giveaways while the Colonels committed 15 turnovers. Both teams flourished in the paint, where EKU scored 44 points and BU accumulated 38.

Bellarmine rocketed out to the first eight points of the game, but there would ultimately be 13 ties and seven lead changes. The last tie came in the fourth quarter when Merkle's basket knotted the score at 70 with 4:14 left. Mackins followed by hitting the go-ahead bucket on a drive, and Eastern Kentucky led the rest of the way.

Bellarmine never went away. Junior guard Claire Knies sank a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one with 3:01 remaining and, later, Merkle converted an old-fashioned three-point play as the Knights trailed 78-76 with 1:16 left.

Mackins followed with another clutch basket and helped stave off Bellarmine by sinking several free throws in the last minute. The Knights hurt their chances to come back by missing three from the charity stripe in the final 35 seconds.

Bellarmine will host Eastern Kentucky at 1 p.m. (ET) Saturday.

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