Box Score Louisville, Ky.—The guard combination of senior Brittani Rizzi and junior Lyndsey Downing combined for 36 points as Kentucky State University women's basketball dropped a 71-58  matchup on the road to Bellarmine University in non-conference action.

"We played extremely hard today by competing and giving ourselves a chance to win," said head coach Terrance Slater. "We just didn't play smart, but we can build off our effort by getting back to practice tomorrow to focus on correcting our mistakes."

The Thorobrettes (2-8, 2-2) have fallen short in three of their last four games, and are winless against non-conference opponents with three remaining on the 2017-18 schedule. The Knights (5-3) have won back-to-back games after losing three straight.

KSU and BU traded buckets throughout the night with the Lady Knights leading by as much as 17 in the second quarter. The Thorobrettes fought back trailing by only two by halftime. BU tried building on its lead, but the green and gold stayed within an arm's length of the lead, taking a 51-50 lead after a Rizzi three-point bucket with a little over a minute to go in the third stanza. The fourth quarter proved to be the deciding factor, as KSU was outscored 17-7 in the final frame, including a 14-3 run to start the quarter.

Rizzi and Downing each scored 18 points while both played over 30 minutes of action. Freshman forward Erica Jones collected a team-high nine rebounds, but only scored three points on the night. Freshman guard Perri Mitchell turned in her first eye-catching performance of her young career with seven points, five rebounds, and a team-high five assists.

KSU will continue its four-game road stretch before the holidays, crossing into its second state of four with a matchup against McKendree University on Monday at 6 pm ET.