LOUISVILLE, Ky. –  Lipscomb women's basketball dropped their first contest of the final weekend of the regular season Thursday night, falling to Bellarmine in Louisville 80-74. After trailing by nine after the first quarter, Lipscomb fought back to get within one at halftime. They then led by three entering the fourth but could not hold off the Knights in the fourth quarter, as they were outscored 24-15 in the final frame. 

Claira McGowan scored 29 points in the loss, her second-highest point total of the season, including a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Aleah Sorrentino and Molly Heard followed McGowan in the scoring column with 14 and 12 points, respectively. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Bellarmine controlled the pace in the first quarter with their most extensive scoring period of the game. The Knights outscored the Bisons 26-17 in the quarter. A McGowan and-one jumper plus the free throw brought the Bisons within one (14-13) with 4:27 left in the first, but Bellarmine outscored Lipscomb 12-4 the rest of the way to go up nine after the first ten. 

Lipscomb flipped the script and dominated the second quarter to cut their lead to one at the half. The Bisons held the Knights to just 11 points in the frame, forcing them to shoot 18 percent in the second. 

Lipscomb went up by as much as eight in the third on a basket inside from Aleah Sorrentino, but the Knights fought back to even the score twice with less than four minutes to go in the third. After a jumper by Bellarmine to tie it at 54-all at the two-minute mark, McGowan answered quickly for the Bisons on the other end, draining a three-pointer. McGowan later connected on another triple with 22 seconds left in the third to put the Bisons up five, but two free throws by Bellarmine cut the Bisons' narrow lead to three going into the fourth. 

The Bisons quickly put three points back on the board to go up six in the fourth, but the Knights slowly chipped away at the deficit and eventually took a one-point lead with 3:09 left on a free throw. In their next possession, they buried another jumper to go up three with under three minutes to play. McGowan continued her constant pursuit to the rim, keeping the Bisons within a score twice, with four made free throws down the stretch.

Pearson, who had already buried three triples prior, had a good look at another deep ball to tie it down 77-74, but the shot did not fall, forcing the Bisons to foul. Bellarmine hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final 13 seconds to hold on to an 80-74 win. 

HERD NOTES

• Lipscomb shot nearly 46 percent from the floor in the loss and 84 percent from the free-throw line. 
• The Bisons were out-rebounded 45-32 overall. Seventeen of the Knight's 45 rebounds were offensive.
• The Knights scored 17 points off Bisons' turnovers and had 15 second-chance points. 
• The Bisons fall to 16-12 on the season and 9-6 in conference play with one game left before tournament time. 
• With the loss, the Bisons split the season meeting between the Knights, with each team winning at home. 

UP NEXT
Women's basketball will take on Eastern Kentucky in Richmond on Saturday in their final regular season tune-up before the conference tournament play. Tip-off for Saturday's contest is slated for 12 p.m. CT. Continue to check lipscombsports.com and the team's social media accounts (@lipscombwbb on IG and @lipscomb_wbb on X) for the most up-to-date information on Lipscomb women's basketball.