DeLAND, Fla. — The Bellarmine University women's basketball team had no intention of leaving Florida without experiencing a little sunshine.

And that had nothing to do with the weather.

On Saturday at the Edmunds Center, Bellarmine got off to a terrific start and proceeded to answer every Stetson rally attempt as the Knights pulled away for a 67-52 triumph in Atlantic Sun Conference play.

With the win, Bellarmine (13-8, 4-4 ASUN) split a season-long four-game road swing, bookending the long stretch away from Louisville with victories. In the latest one against Stetson (10-10, 4-4), senior guard Hayley Harrison poured in a game-high 22 points behind a season-high four 3-pointers made while adding seven rebounds and three assists.

Harrison paced four Knights in double figures. Senior guard Ashlee Harris went 6-for-7 from the floor in registering 14 points, senior guard Hope Sivori supplied 13 points with six rebounds and three assists, and junior guard Miyah Brown notched her first double-double of the season with 12 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Senior forward Skylar Treadwell's 12 boards marked her seventh double-digit rebounding effort of the year.

Bellarmine's defensive performance was the key component in the win. The 52 points allowed by the Knights were their fewest in ASUN play, and they held Stetson scoreless over the final 7:42 of the contest. BU's plus-9 rebounding advantage (46-37) was its largest margin on the boards in conference action. The Knights capitalized on Stetson's miscues, holding a 23-13 superiority in points off turnovers.

Another critical factor in the win was Bellarmine's start. It has typically taken the Knights some time to get settled into games this season, but they were firing on all cylinders at the outset against Stetson. Harrison canned a pair of jumpers, the latter a 3-pointer, and Treadwell converted as BU led 7-0 less than two minutes into the contest. The matchup was around four minutes old when a basket by Brown upped the advantage to 13-2.

Bellarmine led end-to-end, but Stetson nearly chased the Knights down on a few occasions. The Hatters cut their deficit to four at 30-26 at halftime and were within three in the third quarter when Harrison followed a Harris 3-pointer with seven straight points to elevate the lead to 13.

Stetson trailed by nine heading into the fourth but opened the period on an 8-0 run and suddenly had an opportunity to take the lead. The Hatters' Cameron Thomas heated up in the second half, when she scored all 16 of her points.

Bellarmine once again responded, with veteran savvy being paramount. Sivori attacked the rim, got hammered and the ASUN's leading free-throw shooter sank a pair of freebies to halt the run. Harrison followed with a successful drive to give the Knights some breathing room.

Then Harris, yet another senior guard, buried a 3-pointer before making a slick, opposite-handed runner from the baseline to pump the lead back to 10 with 3:05 left. When Sivori followed her putback bucket by sinking a wide-open triple, Bellarmine's game-ending run extended to 14-0. The Knights shut out Stetson over the final 7:42.

Bellarmine will open a four-game ASUN homestand by welcoming North Florida at 6:30 p.m. (ET) Thursday.
 
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