CONWAY, Ark. — Second-seeded Central Arkansas took control in the second half in defeating the eighth-seeded Bellarmine University women's basketball team 77-57 in the ASUN Tournament quarterfinals Saturday evening in the Farris Center.

In a season of unprecedented success in the Division-I era, Bellarmine (18-15) was playing on back-to-back nights after Friday's 80-79 overtime win over Jacksonville in the first round, a victory that was the Knights' first-ever in the ASUN Tournament.

Bellarmine trailed 33-30 at halftime, but the quick turnaround may have taken its toll in the second half against a fresh Central Arkansas squad that pushed title winner FGCU in the conference standings for much of the regular season. The Sugar Bears (22-8) used a 10-2 run in the third quarter to lead by as many as 13 before a 3-pointer by senior guard Hope Sivori to end the period got the Knights within nine.

Central Arkansas then opened the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run to pull away for good. The Sugar Bears held the Knights scoreless over the first five minutes of the period.

Bree Stephens and Kinley Fisher scored 18 points apiece and combined to go 12-of-14 from the field, including 6-for-6 from 3-point range, for Central Arkansas. The Sugar Bears shot 54 percent for the game.

Sivori led Bellarmine with 17 points. Senior forward Skylar Treadwell added eight and nine rebounds for the Knights, who tied their lowest-scoring effort of the season, another possible indicator of the weight of playing on consecutive days.

Bellarmine clinched its first winning season in the D1 era this year while racking up a D1 record for total wins among its host of standard-setting achievements.

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