LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Bellarmine University's women's basketball team is finding plenty of top notch competition in the new year.  After opening 2011 with a convincing Great Lakes Valley Conference road win at Lewis on Sunday, the Knights had the unenviable task of taking on back to back conference divisional favorites and doing so in a span of just a 48 hours yet in locations 350 miles apart.

On Tuesday, Bellarmine lost 87-59 to GLVC North Division favorite Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wisc., then had to make the 8-hour bus trip home, where the Knights will host West Division favorite Drury on Thursday.  To make the situation even tougher, the Knights are missing a key component of th team, as the 2010 GLVC Freshman of the Year Jalissa Chatlos has been out nursing an injury.

Bellarmine enters the Drury contest with a 7-5 record and is even in conference play.  The Panthers are off to a 7-4 start, and the defending GLVC champions are a perfect 4-0 so far in the 2010-11 campaign.  The Knights are being led by Lauren Jones, a junior transfer from Austin Peay, who is leading the GLVC in scoring with a 19.3 average.  The Panthers counter with a Jones of their own.  Ja'Nell Jones leads Drury--and is third in the GLVC--with a 17.8 scoring average.

Thursday's contest is set to begin at 5:45 p.m. in Knights Hall. Tickets are $10 for reserved seats and $8 for general admission and are available at the door. The ticket is good for both the women's game and the Bellarmine-Drury men's game, which follows at 8 p.m.