LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's basketball team will welcome two opponents who are near the top of the ASUN standings as the Knights are set to host Austin Peay State at 5 p.m. (ET) Thursday and Lipscomb at 1 p.m. Saturday in Freedom Hall.

Austin Peay (12-7, 7-2 ASUN) and Lipscomb (13-8, 7-2) are in a three-way tie for second place in the conference with Liberty. The Knights (7-15, 3-6) just faced league leader FGCU, meaning they're in the middle of a three-game stretch against three of the current top-4 teams in the ASUN.

Bellarmine and Austin Peay have a brief history. The Knights and Governors met for the first time last season when APSU was a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Govs secured a 67-54 home win in a contest in which every quarter was lopsided: Austin Peay burst out to a 29-8 lead after one period and outscored Bellarmine 16-8 in the third stanza, but the Knights outscored the Governors 18-11 in the second quarter and 20-11 in the fourth.

Austin Peay has won six of its last seven games, including Saturday's 70-56 home win over Queens. The Governors largely dominated the contest, building a 16-point lead in the second quarter that swelled to 21 in the fourth. APSU got a huge lift off its bench, as its top-three scorers were all non-starters.

Austin Peay's Shamarre Hale posted a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds and Yamia Johnson added 14 points. Hale (11.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg) and Johnson (11.0, 4.8) are the team's top-two leading scorers and rebounders. Hale has posted 18 points or more in four of her last six games, three of which included double-doubles.

Defense has been an Austin Peay hallmark. The Governors rank second in the ASUN in points allowed (56.4) and are third in field-goal percentage defense (38.0) and 3-point percentage defense (27.7).

Winning close games has been Lipscomb's calling card. Six of the Bisons' seven conference wins were by single digits, and the outlier wasn't far from it — a 79-68 victory over Queens. Lipscomb is coming off just its second loss in league play, 65-56 at home Saturday to Liberty.

Lipscomb ranks third in the ASUN in scoring (70.4) and field-goal percentage (43.8). On the other end, the Bisons rank second in the league in field-goal percentage defense (37.8). They're also a solid rebounding club, with a plus-3.9 margin that's good for third in the conference and is right below Bellarmine (plus-4.5).

Lipscomb has three players scoring at a high rate — and all at nearly the same clip. Aleah Sorrentino averages 13.6 points per game, Bella Vinson 13.3 and Jalyn Holcomb 13.2. Sorrentino is also the leading rebounder (8.9).

Bellarmine is coming off 50-48 and 86-44 losses at Stetson and FGCU, respectively, in which the Knights posted their two lowest-scoring outputs in ASUN play. Bellarmine is, however, on a three-game winning streak in Freedom Hall.

Gracie Merkle is a three-time ASUN Player of the Week and a six-time ASUN Freshman of the Week who is leading the conference in rebounding (11.0) and field-goal percentage (a nation's-best 71.4) while ranking second in blocks (2.3) and third in scoring (15.4). The 6-foot-6 center has also recorded an ASUN-high 14 double-doubles.

Hayley Harrison paced Bellarmine with 15 points against FGCU. The sophomore guard has scored in double figures in five of her last seven games. She is the team's second-leading scorer (10.5).

Sophomore guard Bralee Trice scored a career-high nine points against FGCU, while freshman guard Miyah Brown grabbed eight rebounds, her second-highest output of the season.

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