The preseason favorites to win their respective Great Lakes Valley Conference divisions will square off at 5:45 p.m. (ET) Thursday at Knights Hall as the 15th-ranked Bellarmine University women’s basketball team hosts No. 9 Drury.
Both squads are living up to their esteemed billings. Drury (19-2, 11-0 GLVC) is the league’s lone unbeaten team against GLVC competition and is running away with the West, owning a sizable lead over 7-4 Rockhurst with seven games left. Bellarmine (17-3, 9-2) is in the thick of the hunt for a GLVC East regular-season title after being a game back of Southern Indiana (10-1).
The Knights will follow their top-15 showdown with Drury by welcoming in Missouri S&T (8-11, 3-8) at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Drury represents the third ranked opponent Bellarmine has hosted this season. The Knights are seeking their first win in such contests after being edged 88-83 by still top-ranked and undefeated Ashland on Dec. 30 and falling 69-57 to then-No. 24 Lewis on Jan. 19.
Bellarmine suffered its second GLVC loss last week after being defeated 80-65 by Indianapolis. The setbacks to the Flyers and Greyhounds featured the hazardous combinations of shooting 24.2 percent and 35.8 percent and allowing 49.1 percent and 66 percent accuracy. Bellarmine hasn’t held teams under 49.1 percent shooting in its last five games, and Drury is second in the league at 47.3 percent from the field and at 78.2 points per game, so the Knights’ fortunes may be dictated by their ability on defense to contain the Panthers.
Drury, which leads the GLVC in 3-point shooting (39.7), is paced by Heather Harman’s 16.4 points per game, but Paige Wilson (12.9), Hailey Diestelkamp (11.5) and Briana Jones (11.5) average double figures as well. Diestelkamp is second in the league in rebounding (8.8) and tied for second in steals (3.0), Harman is fourth in scoring and third in assists (4.1), and Wilson has drained the most 3-pointers (64).
Missouri S&T split its games last week, defeating Quincy 72-59 before falling 89-56 to Truman State. Janie Arand leads the Miners at 10.1 points per contest, while Elsie Greenwood chips in 9.3.
Bellarmine rebounded from its loss to UIndy with an 86-81 victory over Saint Joseph’s in which the Knights led by 13 points with 1:18 left before fending off a furious Pumas comeback attempt. While Bellarmine’s offense struggled against Lewis and Indianapolis, it’s registered 84 points or more in five of the last seven outings. The Knights are third in the GLVC in scoring at 76.6 points per game.
Senior forward Sarah Galvin (15.4), junior guard Raven Merriweather (12.9) and senior guard Destony Curry (10.9) average double figures. Galvin is the leading rebounder (7.9), senior guard Whitney Hartlage tops the team in assists (3.3) and Merriweather has amassed a team-best 38 steals.
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