RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky wrapped up the regular season with a 79-68 victory over Bellarmine on Saturday afternoon in McBrayer Arena.
 
Eastern jumped out to an 8-2 lead after just over three minutes of play and led 13-7 following a basket from Jayla Johnson at the 4:36 mark of the first quarter. However, the Knights scored 10 of the period's final 13 points to take a 17-16 lead into the second stanza.
 
Bellarmine led 25-23 midway through the second quarter, but Emma Hacker's three ignited an 8-0 run that put EKU up 31-25 with 3:35 left before halftime. The Colonels managed just four free throws for the remainder of the half, but took a 37-33 lead into intermission.
 
Eastern Kentucky built a 12-point lead midway through the third quarter as a layup from Bria Bass put the Colonels up 50-38 with 4:27 left in the period. Bellarmine responded with a 17-4 run before a pair of threes from Kayra Freeman put EKU back in front, 60-57, entering the fourth quarter.
 
The lead switched hands four times over the first six minutes of the final period as Eastern took a 68-65 lead on I'Liyah Green's baseline jumper with 3:33 remaining. A trio of Bellarmine free throws evened the score, but Alice Recanati answered with an and-one to push EKU back in front, 71-68 with 3:06 to go. The play sparked an 11-0 Colonel run to close the game as Eastern pulled away for its ninth home win of the season, the most for the program since 2015-16.
 
Bria Bass led EKU with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Recanati and Hacker each added 11 points. Freeman netted 10 points in the win.
 
The Colonels went 28-of-31 (90.3 percent) from the charity stripe and held a 43-24 advantage on the glass. Both teams combined for 55 fouls and 54 free-throw attempts.
 
Eastern Kentucky will host a first-round ASUN Tournament game on Wednesday night.