The William Jewell women's basketball team gave No. 4 Bellarmine all they could handle on Saturday afternoon but poor shooting by the Cards in the second half helped BU regain the lead for good and top Jewell 70-56. The Cardinals now stand at 5-7 overall and 2-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Unlike their previous game in which Jewell fell into an early hole, the Cards came out firing in the opening quarter. A
Maddie Nelson layup off the feed from
Lindsey McCoy tied the game 13 before
Katie Finn and
Annemarie Boeh hit back-to-back three point shots to open a 19-15 lead and force a Bellarmine timeout. Just over a minute later McCoy got in on the action hitting a three of her own to give Jewell a 22-15 lead after one complete. After hitting just two three point field goals total against Southern Indiana, Jewell connected on four in the first quarter alone on Saturday.
The Cardinals kept the scoring going in the second frame as Finn hit her second three of the day followed by two baskets from Nelson to give Jewell a 16-0 run and the largest lead of the day at 31-17. The Knights went on a quick 6-0 run to pull within striking distance before Boeh hit her second three of the day to give Jewell a 37-30 lead at the break.
In the opening half the Cardinals cooled off significantly in the second quarter but did hit 6-15 three point attempts and forced ten turnovers.
After the break, Jewell's shooting woes returned as the Cards failed to make a field goal in the third period. However, despite scoring all six points in the frame from the free throw line, they were able to keep Bellarmine at bay and held a 43-42 lead heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Unfortunately for Jewell, the fourth quarter was all Bellarmine, as they outscored the Cardinals 28-13 to earn the win. After an impressive opening half, Jewell managed just three second half field goals on their way to a 25 percent clip from the floor, and connecting on just one three point shot.
Despite the loss, the Cardinals managed to force the Knights into 18 turnovers and won the battle on the boards 43-38, including pulling down a season-high 21 offensive rebounds, compared to just 12 by Bellarmine.
Nelson led Jewell with 17 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. Finn added 12 points while
Chris Keys grabbed a team-high eight boards. Sophomore
Natalie Closser, who earned her first career start, posted four points and five rebounds, including four on the offensive end, along with one block.
The Cardinals will return home next week as they play host to GLVC opponents Illinois Springfield on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. followed by McKendree on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
