EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. - Whitney Sykes scored 17 points, but it wasn't enough as Bellarmine defeated Southern Illinois University Edwardsville 78-55 in Great Lakes Valley Conference women's basketball on Saturday afternoon.
         Sykes connected on 5 of 9 three-pointers as the Cougars fall to 11-16 overall and 6-12 in the GLVC. The Knights improve to 18-7 overall and 12-6 in the league.
         The Cougars gained a 23-22 lead on a three-pointer by Sykes with 7:59 left to go in the first half. Bellarmine then went on 30-10 run over the next 12:31 to pull away from SIUE. The Cougars were never able to cut the Bellarmine lead under 16 points after that point.
         Alisa Carrillo and Julianne McMillen each netted 12 points as the Cougars shot 34.5 percent (20-58) in the contest.
         SIUE is now tied with Southern Inidana in eighth place in the league after Southern Indiana defeated Missouri-St. Louis today.
         Angela Smith led the Knights with 17 points; Lynne Johnson notched 16 points, and Ashley Elmore netted 15.
         Bellarmine shot 50 percent for the game and outrebounded SIUE 44-27.
         The Cougars will head to the road next week for the final two games of the regular season. SIUE visits Indianapolis on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. before traveling to St. Joseph's on Saturday.
                  -siue cougars-