CONWAY, Ark. — The Bellarmine University women's basketball team battled Central Arkansas to the very end, but the Knights couldn't quite complete a comeback bid in falling 63-57 to the Sugar Bears on Thursday night in Atlantic Sun Conference action at the Farris Center.

Central Arkansas (17-8, 9-3 ASUN), which has already clinched a berth in the ASUN Tournament, has had a knack for turning it on in the third quarter this season, including twice against Bellarmine (8-16, 3-9).

In the teams' first matchup this year in Freedom Hall, the Sugar Bears outscored the Knights 24-14 in the third period to erase a halftime deficit and springboard the team to a 73-59 win. On Thursday, UCA only led 29-27 at the break, but the Sugar Bears followed with a decisive 19-9 advantage in the third stanza.

That stretch proved to be imperative for Central Arkansas because Bellarmine simply refused to fold. The Knights cut a 12-point deficit to 48-43 with 6:57 left as senior forward Cam Browning commanded the early portion of the period.

Central Arkansas answered with a 3-pointer and restored the lead back to 10, but Bellarmine again trimmed the deficit to five with 1:21 left on a basket by sophomore guard Miyah Brown. After the Sugar Bears made 1-of-2 from the FT line, sophomore guard Jayla Butler converted a jumper as the Knights crept to within 59-55 with 40 seconds remaining.

Central Arkansas held off Bellarmine by sinking a pair of free throws and then two more from the charity stripe after a Knights miss. Kinley Fisher led the Sugar Bears with 13 points.

Junior guard Hayley Harrison sank eight of her 11 FT attempts in registering a game-high 19 points for Bellarmine. Brown was one rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine boards, and Browning wasn't too far off with nine points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Hope Sivori added eight points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Free-throw shooting loomed large again, but this time it didn't work in Bellarmine's favor. One game after going 34-for-35 from the charity stripe in an 85-76 win over Queens, the Knights were just 14-for-23 from the line against Central Arkansas.

Bellarmine will play at 6 p.m. (ET) Saturday at North Alabama.

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