LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's basketball team's challenging nonconference slate will come into focus once again Thursday evening when the Knights take the Memorial Coliseum floor at 7 (ET) to clash with Kentucky.

The Wildcats (3-0) will represent the second opponent from the SEC in 11 days for Bellarmine (0-2), which opened the season at now-No. 15 LSU. UK marks the third of six straight contests away from Freedom Hall to begin the 2022-23 campaign for the Knights.

Bellarmine and Kentucky are meeting for the first time in the Division-I era, which now spans three seasons for the Knights. Although they've squared off in exhibitions since, BU and UK have not played an official game since the 1970s, when they battled seven times from 1971-72 to 1975-76. The Wildcats won each contest.

Kentucky made a dramatic run to the SEC Tournament title last season after winning four games in four days, capped by a 64-62 triumph over eventual national champion South Carolina. The Wildcats were picked seventh in this year's SEC preseason media poll.

While Bellarmine has a lengthy road stretch to begin the season, the Knights will be Kentucky's fourth straight opponent in Memorial Coliseum to open the year. The Wildcats are undefeated thus far, dispatching Radford 82-78, Morehead State 73-48 and Coastal Carolina 79-53.

Kentucky has three players scoring in double figures, led by Robyn Benton's 15.7 points per game. Jada Walker is next at 14.0 and Blair Green follows at 10.7. The Wildcats have outrebounded their opponents by less than two per game, but they've forced 26.3 turnovers per contest behind an average of 11.0 steals per outing.

Turnovers led to Bellarmine's undoing in a 73-62 loss Sunday at Purdue Fort Wayne. The Knights had 30 giveaways while dealing with the sudden and significant loss of senior guard Jaela Johnson — the team's leading returning scorer and primary ballhandler — due to an injury in the season opener at LSU.

The turnovers against PFW were especially unfortunate because, as Coach Chancellor Dugan noted afterward, the Knights were sound in most every other area and played well enough to win had they tempered those miscues. Bellarmine excelled underneath, as reigning ASUN Freshman of the Week Gracie Merkle posted her first collegiate double-double with 22 points and a D1-era program-record 14 rebounds while senior forward Sheniqua Coatney added 13 points. That duo combined to go 15-for-20 from the field.

Bellarmine also delivered one of its best rebounding efforts in the D1 era, as the Knights posted a plus-13 advantage on the boards. Bellarmine shot a solid 45.6 percent, and while the Knights struggled from the 3-point line, they were 7-for-8 from the charity stripe. Their six blocks were their most against a D1 opponent in the D1 era.

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