By Dalton McGlone, Staff Writer
The Bellarmine University women’s basketball team ended its four-game losing streak Saturday by defeating Missouri S&T 85-75 in Knights Hall.
Bellarmine improves to 9-8 on the year and 3-6 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Miners (7-9, 3-6 GLVC) have lost three straight on the road.
Missouri S&T played from behind the entire game. Bellarmine had a 25-point lead going into the fourth quarter. The Miners got hot in the fourth, but could only cut the lead to 10 before the buzzer.
Sophomore guard Marta Durk came off the Miners’ bench to score a game-high 25 points. Center Mykala Baylor scored 14 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked four shots for the Miners.
During their losing streak, the Knights struggled to score. They shot 34 percent from the field and 23 percent from the 3-point line in that span. It appeared Saturday that Bellarmine found its rhythm. The Knights shot 45 percent from the field and made 12 threes on 24 attempts.
“We did much better on offense,” said Bellarmine head coach Chancellor Dugan. “Sometimes the basket gets smaller and smaller as the game goes on, but I think they did a good job of weathering the storm. I kept telling them to shoot it early and stop waiting. They did that today. We just have to move forward from here.”
Junior Mikayla Berry played a major role in Bellarmine’s success. She scored 20 points and made five threes on 11 attempts. Berry said the team has stressed the importance of offense in practice.
“This week we really emphasized our shooting,” Berry said. “In the past couple of games, shooting hasn’t been there for us. We’ve just been working on our offense and making shots we know we can hit.”
Junior Mallory Schwartz made contributions on both offense and defense for the Knights. She recorded 13 points, nine rebounds, two steals and a block. Schwartz shot an efficient 5-for-11 with two 3-pointers.
“Before the game, we talked about energy and effort,” Schwartz said. “That was the key to winning the game. I brought the energy and (the team) followed up with it. It definitely helps when you’re knocking down shots and getting stops.”
Bellarmine looks to build momentum Feb. 2 against the University of Southern Indiana at 5:45 p.m. in Knights Hall. The Screaming Eagles are 14-5 on the year and 7-2 in the GLVC. They are coming off of a 77-50 loss against undefeated Drury.