Louisville City Wire

Merkle's historic performance, near triple-double leads Knights over Simmons

Surpassing the numbers in this performance won't be easy.

But thankfully Gracie Merkle has nearly her whole college basketball career left to try.

Setting an outrageously high barometer just seven games into her college tenure, Merkle finished one block shy of a triple-double in the Bellarmine University women's basketball team's 68-47 victory over Simmons College of Kentucky on Thursday in the Knights' Freedom Hall debut.

Merkle set a new program record for blocks after rejecting nine shots for Bellarmine (2-5). The freshman center tied the program record for rebounds after ripping down 23. Those two marks are easily Division I-era program records through three seasons in the NCAA's highest level. Merkle also set a new career high with 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting.

Merkle secured her third straight double-double and fourth of the season by halftime, when she had already registered 13 rebounds and 10 points to go along with five blocks. The two-time ASUN Freshman of the Week racked up 15 more points, 10 additional rebounds and four more blocks in the second half. A 5-for-5 outing from the free-throw line — her best of the season — was another glowing aspect of her historic night.

"That's how she practices — she goes hard," Knights Coach Chancellor Dugan said. "She's got the best hands I've ever coached. If you get it anywhere around her, she's coming up with it, even if it's low. It's a vice grip when she gets it."

Senior forward Cam Browning collected 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Behind Merkle and Browning, Bellarmine had a 46-12 superiority in points in the paint and 52-27 advantage on the boards. With Merkle swatting everything in sight, the team's 11 blocks were a D1-era program record.

"I thought we did a really good job of taking advantage of what they gave us," Dugan said. "When we went inside, we looked really good, whether we shot it or passed it back outside."

Bellarmine had some hiccups. The Knights turned the ball over 29 times against the athletic and feisty Lady Falcons, which prevented BU from fully pulling away until the fourth quarter. The Knights led 16-9 after one period, 31-21 at halftime and 46-34 heading into the final stanza.

Bellarmine did force 21 turnovers and tally a season-high 14 steals. Sophomore guards Hayley Harrison and Lydia Reimbold notched three thefts apiece. The Knights' giveaways were also eased by many instances of good passing, as Bellarmine accumulated 19 assists. Plus, the Knights held Simmons to only 25 percent shooting.

"They're a very well-coached team and did exactly what they needed to do," Dugan said of Simmons. "They forced us into rushing our offense. We've talked a lot in the last couple days about taking the shot we want to take, and tonight we took a lot of shots that they wanted us to take. We've got to get better at that."

Harrison collected 11 points and freshman guard Jayla Butler distributed a game-high five assists for Bellarmine. Zephaniah Gray impressed for Simmons with 22 points, five steals, four rebounds and three assists.

Bellarmine will play at 2 p.m. (ET) Sunday at Morehead State.

"They'll press, they'll get after us," Dugan said of Morehead State. "We're back on the road, and we've got to do a better job of taking care of the ball."

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Original source can be found here.