LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The weather may be turning progressively icier, but the Bellarmine University women's basketball team's schedule continues to heat up.

Bellarmine (2-7) will face its second straight Power 4 opponent — and third of the season — when the Knights take the floor for a 7 ET (6 CT) contest tonight at Illinois (6-1). BU will follow with a 2 p.m. matchup Sunday at Chattanooga (4-5).

Bellarmine had preceding games against Power 4 opponents Nov. 13 at Ohio State and Sunday at Louisville, the latter of which capped the three-day Louisville MTE, an event the Knights co-hosted with the Cardinals. Ohio State, Louisville and Illinois all advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season.

Things won't quiet down for Bellarmine after Chattanooga. The Knights' five-game road stretch will culminate in contests at Arizona (Dec. 18) and Notre Dame (Dec. 21).

ABOUT ILLINOIS
Illinois, which is coming off a 22-10 campaign, is riding a four-game winning streak. The first three of those victories came against Murray State, Florida State and Western Kentucky, and all were by 20 points or more. Forward Berry Wallace, who's shooting 53.4 percent, has four games with at least 22 points and is averaging 19.7 per contest along with 6.7 rebounds. Guard Gretchen Dolan is also among the four Illini scoring in double figures at 13.7 points per game. Illinois is 5-0 in the State Farm Center this season.

ABOUT CHATTANOOGA
Chattanooga was the Southern Conference Tournament runner-up and a WNIT participant last season. The Mocs played Friday and Saturday in the CBU Classic in Riverside, California, and split their two games, earning a 59-57 win over Sacramento State before falling 66-64 to UC Santa Barbara. They've played two of Bellarmine's ASUN colleagues this season, notching a 59-56 road win at Lipscomb and falling 68-54 at home to Austin Peay. Chattanooga's last three games have all been decided by two points, starting with a 64-62 home win over Northern Kentucky. Guard Caia Elisaldez's 14.2 points per game are pacing the Mocs.

KNIGHTS NOTES
• Bellarmine and Chattanooga are meeting for the second time in series history, with both coming the last two seasons. The Knights' 67-66 home win last year was one of the most improbable in program history. BU trailed by five with 8.3 seconds left when Erin Toller bridged a pair of 3-pointers around a Mocs turnover, the latter a buzzer-beater that sent the Knights to the win and then-head coach and now-retired Chancellor Dugan to her 500th career coaching victory.
• Bellarmine and Illinois are meeting for the first time in series history.
• Illinois is the fourth team from the Big Ten that Bellarmine has played in the D1 era. The Knights have twice squared off with Ohio State (this season and in 2021-22) and also played at Purdue and Indiana, both in 2024-25.
• In addition to the aforementioned big-name opponents in the D1 era, Bellarmine has also faced LSU (2022-23), Kentucky (2022-23), UCLA (2023-24) and, of course, Louisville (five times).
• When it lines up against Illinois, Bellarmine will be playing for the fourth time in five days. From Friday-Sunday, BU co-hosted the Louisville MTE with Louisville. Before facing U of L in the MTE finale, the Knights fell 55-49 to East Tennessee State and 68-63 to Eastern Illinois.
• Due to a rash of injuries this season, Bellarmine has frequently suited up eight players and multiple times finished a game with seven after sustaining an in-game injury.
• Sophomore forward Rachel Shropshire scored a career-high 10 points behind a career-high three 3-pointers against Louisville. All three triples came in the third quarter.
• In the second game of the Louisville MTE against Eastern Illinois, junior guard Triniti Ralston tied a career high with a game-best 25 points to go along with a game-high four assists and seven rebounds. Ralston owns three of BU's top-4 scoring outputs this season (25-, 22- and 21-point games).
• Ralston ranks 10th in the ASUN in scoring (13.3 ppg) and is tied for seventh in rebounding (6.9). She is the ASUN leader in FTs made (56) and attempted (65) while ranking seventh in FT percentage (.862).
• In BU's first game of the Louisville MTE against East Tennessee State, redshirt junior forward Andrea Chiquemba went 5-for-5 from the 3-point line, including 4-of-4 in the first period alone, in scoring a game-high 17 points.

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