LOUISVILLE, Ky. ---New Bellarmine University women's basketball coach Chancellor Dugan has announced  the program's 2012-13 schedule, one that features 17 home games in Knights Hall and a December trip to play three games in Puerto Rico.

“This is a tough schedule from top to bottom,” said Dugan. “I'm really looking forward to facing high-level competition every night out and playing in several in-season tournaments will hopefully get us ready to make a postseason run.”

To prepare for the rigorous slate, the Knights will play two exhibition contests beginning with Indiana State on Nov. 3 followed by a visit to Lexington, Ky. to take on the University of Kentucky. The Wildcats have reached the Elite Eight in two of the past three seasons and ended the 2011-12 campaign ranked eighth in the nation.

It's Dugan's hope that facing two high-level Div.-I programs in the preseason will prepare her team for the tough regular season. “Not many Div.-II programs get the opportunity to play teams like Indiana State and Kentucky. We'll take that chance and use it to grow and get better as a team.”

For the third consecutive season, Bellarmine will kick off the regular season by hosting the United Electric Tip-Off Classic in Knights Hall on Nov. 9-10. The Knights will see a familiar foe in the first round, squaring off against Kentucky State, and will hope to take on the winner of Ferris State and Cedarville in the championship game. The Bulldogs of Ferris State are fresh off a 23-7 season a year ago that ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

After a two week layoff, Bellarmine will get back to work playing two games in Evansville, Ind. as part of the USI Thanksgiving Classic squaring off against Lake Superior State on Nov. 24 and Notre Dame College on Nov. 25.  After getting their fill in Evansville, the Knights will end November by hosting Berea College on the 27th and begin December by playing host to Georgetown College on the 4th.

The Knights are not likely to see much snow during their Christmas break as Dugan will take her squad on six day trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico to play three games from Dec. 14-19. While a trip to Puerto Rico is a vacation for many people, Dugan knows that there will be business to attend to. “It's very exciting for our team to go out of the country and face teams that play a different brand of basketball than we normally see. The team will get to enjoy some of the sights and sounds of the island, but also work to make some noise in the conference.”

Bellarmine will then close out 2012 playing host to the MetroMedical New Year's Classic on Dec. 30-31. The Knights will play Millersville University on day one of the event while taking on Alabama-Huntsville, an NCAA Tournament team last season, in day two.

A new calendar year brings Great Lakes Valley Conference play to Knights Hall as the team will open up the 18-game conference portion of the schedule on Jan. 3 by welcoming in Quincy. Notable home GLVC contests include Kentucky Wesleyan (Feb. 2), Southern Indiana (Feb. 21), and the regular season finale against McKendree (Nov. 28).

Dugan also knows life on the road is never easy as key road contests for the Knights are at Southern Indiana (Jan. 31), where Dugan coached for eight seasons, at Kentucky Wesleyan (Nov. 23), and at defending GLVC Champion Wisconsin-Parkside (Feb. 16). “I'm excited to go back to USI as well as all the other conference stops from the past.”

Bellarmine will have no shortage of experience heading into the 2012-13 campaign as the roster features ten juniors and seniors including all-conference performers Lauren Jones and Kylie Brady.


Full Schedule