KENNESAW, Ga. — The Bellarmine University women's basketball team went cold from the field late as Kennesaw State snuck out of the KSU Convocation Center on Saturday with a 77-73 win over the Knights in ASUN action.

Bellarmine (7-19, 3-10 ASUN) lost a pair of heartbreakers on the road this week after being clipped 59-54 Thursday at Jacksonville State. The Knights shot 58.6 percent against Kennesaw State (11-13, 7-6) in the first half but finished at 42.9 percent for the game after cooling off in the second half.

"I thought the whole game we battled," Bellarmine Coach Chancellor Dugan said. "We did a good job of battling through adversity."

Bellarmine had itself in position late to potentially pull out a win. The Knights took the lead at 68-67 with 4:31 left on a basket by sophomore guard Hayley Harrison, who scored a team-high 16 points and went 4-for-8 from 3-point range.

Unfortunately, Bellarmine missed its next seven shots, with a pair of free throws by senior forward Sheniqua Coatney and another by freshman center Gracie Merkle being the team's only points until less than 15 seconds remained.

"We had enough really good looks at the basket to win," Dugan said.

Amani Johnson, who scored a game-high 27 points, gave Kennesaw State the lead for good with a go-ahead jumper at the 1:47 mark. She followed by sinking a pair of free throws, part of her 8-for-8 performance from the line. Stacie Jones added another from the charity stripe for a 76-71 advantage with 21 seconds left, and the Owls clinched it after a Bellarmine missed 3-pointer.

Free throws played a major role in the outcome. Kennesaw State hit 24 of its 30 attempts, while Bellarmine went 11-for-19 from the line.

"You can't guard people on the free-throw line, but at the same time, we missed eight free throws," Dugan said. "If we make those free throws, we win."

Junior guard Mackenzie Keelin nailed four 3-pointers while scoring 13 points, Coatney added 11 and seven rebounds, and Merkle posted nine points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Freshman guards Jayla Butler and Miyah Brown tallied five assists apiece.

Bellarmine will host Central Arkansas at 5 p.m. (ET) Thursday at the KFC Yum! Center.

"We are improving. From December until now, we're a totally different team," Dugan said. "We're moving the ball a little better, I see us executing the offense and locked in on defense. …We've just got to pick ourselves back up, and we've got home games coming up."

For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights) and Facebook (BUKnights).