LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Missouri S&T's late rally effort fell short Saturday afternoon, as Bellarmine held off the Lady Miners for a 78-69 Great Lakes Valley Conference win at Knights Hall.

The Lady Miners cut a 12-point Bellarmine lead down to three in the final moments, but wasn't able to draw any closer and lost for the second time in as many games on their current three-game road stretch.  The loss dropped S&T to 7-10 overall and 2-7 in the GLVC.

Despite shooting just 33 percent in the first half, the Lady Miners were down by only three at the intermission thanks to Maddie Raley (Haubstadt, Ind./Gibson Southern), who scored 14 of her 16 first half points in the second period.  Raley hit a pair of three-pointers late in the half when it appeared Bellarmine was set to break away from S&T, one at the 1:36 mark and the latter with 52 seconds left to bring the game to the halftime score of 32-29.

S&T stayed close through much of the third quarter, trailing by just one midway through the period after a lay-in by Kristin Steins (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South) and by two with 1:13 to go in the third after a lay-up by Joe'l Bland (St. Charles, Mo./Homeschooled).  However, the Knights closed the period on a 7-0 run to take a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter.

But again, the Lady Miners drew closer once the final quarter started, as a three-pointer by Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) and a pair of free throws by Bria Pierce (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley North) cut the lead back to four.   The Knights would extend their advantage back into double figures by the midway point of the quarter, but behind the shooting of Janie Arand (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia), S&T would make one more push down the stretch.

Arand hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to cut the Knights' 12-point lead in half, then hit another after a Beth Bowers lay-up to cut the lead to five.  Then with 1:41 to go, Raley made a steal and scored to trim the Bellarmine lead to three, but the Knights would go 10-of-10 at the free throw line in the final minute to hold off S&T.

Raley finished with 22 points to lead all scorers in the game, while Arand had 15 and Kabetske finished with 13.  The Lady Miners shot only 34.3 percent for the day, but stayed in the game by hitting eight three-pointers and going 17-of-18 at the free throw line.

Raven Merriweather, the third leading scorer in the GLVC, had 20 points along with Mikayla Berry to lead the Knights (10-8, 5-4 GLVC).

Missouri S&T will wrap up its three-game road stretch Thursday when it heads to Quincy for a 5:15 p.m. contest.