LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's basketball team is co-hosting the three-day Louisville MTE with the University of Louisville, with two days of action in the KFC Yum! Center bookending a day of play in Knights Hall.

Bellarmine (2-4) will open the MTE with a 4:30 p.m. (ET) contest Friday against East Tennessee State (1-5) in the KFC Yum! Center before hosting Eastern Illinois (0-5) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Knights Hall. BU will return to the KFC Yum! Center to face No. 23 Louisville (4-2) at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The head coaches of Bellarmine and Louisville share an indelible connection. BU's Monique Reid played under U of L's Jeff Walz from 2008-13 and was among the most accomplished players in Cardinals history. She helped lead Louisville to two Final Fours and national runner-up finishes (2009, 2013) and was inducted into the U of L Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023.

Reid ranks eighth in U of L history in career points (1,725). Additionally in the Cardinals' career rankings, she is second in both free throws made (430) and attempted (567), sixth in career rebounds (802), tied for sixth in games played (141) and seventh in field goals made (643).

On Saturday in Knights Hall, Louisville will take on ETSU at 3:30 p.m. following the Bellarmine/EIU contest.

ABOUT EAST TENNESSEE STATE
Picked third in the Southern Conference preseason coaches' poll, ETSU is coming off a 17-13 campaign and four of the team's five losses this season have been by single digits, with the lone exception being to current No. 14 Tennessee. The most recent setback was 70-64 at Memphis. Forward Meghan Downing and guard Carmen Richardson were selected to the SoCon Preseason All-Conference Team. Anala Nelson is leading the Bucs in scoring at 9.7 points per game.

ABOUT EASTERN ILLINOIS
Eastern Illinois will lead off the MTE by taking on Louisville. The tough opponent has been par for the course for the Panthers, who have also squared off with the Big Ten's Purdue and Michigan State this season. EIU went 18-12 last season, including 15-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Guard Lalani Ellis and center Meioshe Mason were named Players to Watch in the OVC, and the team was picked fifth in the preseason coaches' poll. Ava Stoller's 14.0 points per game are pacing the Panthers.

ABOUT LOUISVILLE
Bellarmine facing a ranked Louisville team has been a common theme in the D1 era. The Knights will line up against the Cardinals for the fifth time in six seasons, and U of L has been a top 25 team in four of those. The Cardinals went 22-11 last season, including 13-5 in the ACC, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Guard Tajianna Roberts (15.3 ppg) and forward Laura Ziegler (14.7 ppg, 9.7 rpg) were named Preseason All-ACC and to the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List. In addition, Roberts was acknowledged on the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List, which recognizes the top shooting guard in college basketball, and Ziegler on the Lisa Leslie Award Watch List, which recognizes the top center. Ziegler was recently cited as well on the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Watch List.

KNIGHTS NOTES
• Bellarmine will be meeting East Tennessee State and Eastern Illinois for the first time in series history. This will be the fifth time in six seasons in the D1 era that the Knights have faced Louisville, and the fourth time the Cardinals have been ranked.
• Bellarmine has experience in the KFC Yum! Center. The Knights have played Louisville three times in the arena. BU has also played one de facto neutral-site game in the building, defeating ASUN rival Central Arkansas 77-57 in the 2024-25 campaign when there was a scheduling conflict with then-home Freedom Hall.
• Bellarmine is dealing with a great deal of adversity this season via the injury front. The Knights were limited to eight players in Sunday's game at Bradley and finished the contest with only seven.
• Ashlee Harris registered a career-high 21 points against Wright State, 15 of which came in the second half and overtime, and followed with 10 points against Bradley. The redshirt senior guard played all but seven minutes in the two games combined.
• Sophomore guard Ava Smith has scored in double figures in three straight games and four times overall this season.
• Junior guard Triniti Ralston posted game highs in points (22), rebounds (15, career high), assists (seven, career high) and steals (four) in the OT win over Wright State. Seventeen of her points came in the second half and OT.

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