LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's basketball team will conclude the 2025 portion of its schedule, its nonconference slate and a five-game road swing brimming with high-profile opponents with a Thursday night contest at Arizona and a Sunday evening outing at No. 20 Notre Dame.

Bellarmine (2-9) will square off with Arizona (8-2) at 8 p.m. ET (6 MT) Thursday and Notre Dame (8-2) at 7 p.m. (ET) Sunday. The Wildcats and Fighting Irish cap a five-game road stretch that began with matchups at Louisville and Illinois, with a contest at fellow mid-major Chattanooga in between.

Bellarmine played earlier this season at Ohio State. The Buckeyes, Louisville, Illinois and Notre Dame were all NCAA Tournament teams last year. On top of that, Ohio State (No. 21), U of L (No. 16) and Notre Dame (No. 20) are all currently ranked in the Associated Press top 25 while Illinois is receiving votes.

Bellarmine head coach Monique Reid and Arizona head coach Becky Burke were in the same recruiting class at the University of Louisville and played together from 2008-12. The Cardinals were the 2009 national runner-up in their freshman season.

ABOUT ARIZONA
Burke is in her first season at Arizona, which is coming off a 19-14 campaign and participation in the WBIT. All 10 of the Wildcats' games have been at home, and Bellarmine is the 11th of 12 straight opponents in the McKale Memorial Center to start the year. Arizona is coming off an 89-70 win over Chicago State. Prior to that, the Wildcats edged Eastern Kentucky, the Knights' ASUN rival, 87-83. Arizona's 48.4 field-goal percentage ranks 15th in the country. Transfer Mickayla Perdue, the 2025 Horizon League Player of the Year at Cleveland State, is averaging 18.9 points per game, which ranks 35th in the country.

ABOUT NOTRE DAME
Notre Dame is on a three-game winning streak, starting with a 93-60 romp at Florida State in its ACC opener. The Fighting Irish are 6-0 at home, most recently posting a 97-48 win over Morehead State. Hannah Hidalgo is one of the most heralded players in the country, earning a spot on the John R. Wooden Award Watch List after also being recognized as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year and an AP Preseason All-American. The junior guard is already a three-time ACC Player of the Week this season and is the fifth-leading scorer in the nation (24.6 ppg). On Tuesday, senior guard Cassandre Prosper was named to the USBWA National Team of the Week after averaging 22 points and 9.5 rebounds in wins over Morehead State and James Madison. She's averaging 15.8 points per game.

KNIGHTS NOTES
• Bellarmine is meeting both Arizona and Notre Dame for the first respective time in series history.
• Albeit on opposite benches, Reid reunited with her and Burke's head coach at Louisville, Jeff Walz, when the Knights visited the Cardinals on Nov. 30.
• After facing Arizona and Notre Dame, Bellarmine will open ASUN play Jan. 1 by hosting Queens and will welcome West Georgia on Jan. 3.
• Bellarmine has been off since the Dec. 7 matchup at Chattanooga, when the Knights were edged 78-73.
• Triniti Ralston poured in a career-high 26 points while distributing a career-best nine assists against Chattanooga. It was the fourth 20-point game of the season for the junior guard, who also had outings of 25, 22 and 21 points.
• Ralston ranks seventh in the ASUN in scoring (13.9), ninth in assists (3.4) and 12th in rebounding (6.1). She has flourished at the FT line, where she ranks first in the conference in makes (71 — fourth in the nation), attempts (82 — seventh in nation) and percentage (86.6).
• Ava Smith followed Ralston with 12 points against Chattanooga. It was the sophomore guard's fifth double-figure performance of the season. Smith ranks fifth in the ASUN in total 3-pointers made with 20, twice sinking four triples in a game.
• Sophomore forward Kayce Hyman tied a season high with 10 points against Chattanooga.
• Sophomore forward Rachel Shropshire grabbed a career-high eight rebounds against Chattanooga.
• Redshirt junior guard/forward Rose Jamison's 11 points against Chattanooga were her fourth double-digit performance of the season.
• Bellarmine has experienced an epidemic of injuries that have limited the Knights to eight active players in the last six games. In three of those, BU finished with seven players after an in-game injury.

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