LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's basketball team will cap a season-long four-game homestand by hosting North Florida at 6:30 p.m. (ET) Thursday and Jacksonville at 2 p.m. Saturday in Atlantic Sun Conference play in Knights Hall.
ABOUT NORTH FLORIDA
North Florida (6-11, 1-5 ASUN) has a deceptive record in conference play. The Ospreys are coming off a pair of tight home losses, as they last week were edged 56-54 by North Alabama and 79-72 by Central Arkansas. UNF also fell 67-65 at home to Lipscomb in its ASUN opener. The Ospreys own a 64-51 win at Queens. Forward Dezuray McGill is the team leader in scoring (10.6) and rebounding (3.8). She is fresh off a 27-point performance against Central Arkansas.
ABOUT JACKSONVILLE
Jacksonville (11-6, 3-3) will play Thursday at Eastern Kentucky before meeting the Knights. The Dolphins split a pair of home games last week, knocking off Central Arkansas 96-86 in overtime before falling 83-79 to North Alabama. Guard Priscilla Williams is the ASUN's top rebounder (8.7), its second-leading scorer (16.2) and free-throw shooter (79.6), and its sixth-leading shot blocker (21 total). The reigning ASUN Player of the Week, Williams set a new program record with 44 points against Central Arkansas, which included a 10-for-20 effort from the field (4-of-7 3 pt.) and 20-for-22 performance from the free-throw line. She followed with a 25-point outing against North Alabama.
KNIGHTS NOTES
• Bellarmine owns a 4-3 series lead over North Florida. Although the Knights dropped their first three D1-era games to the Ospreys, BU is currently on a four-game winning streak against UNF, including a regular-season sweep last season consisting of an 80-69 win in Louisville and a 93-65 victory in Jacksonville.
• Jacksonville owns a 6-4 series lead over Bellarmine, but the Knights did sweep two meetings last season, capturing a 78-73 road win in the regular season and an 80-79 overtime victory in the first round of the ASUN Tournament at host Central Arkansas.
• Bellarmine began its four-game homestand with losses of 67-39 to Austin Peay and 90-46 to ASUN leader Eastern Kentucky.
• Due to an epidemic of injuries, BU has competed with 7-8 players in each of the last 14 games. Against EKU, the Knights had five players available from the original 2025-26 roster.
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Kayce Hyman registered a career-high 19 points against EKU, which also represented the team's highest individual scoring effort in ASUN play this season. The sophomore forward's seven made FTs (in seven attempts) tied a career high. Hyman is averaging a team-high 12.0 points per game in league play, with three efforts of 14 points or more.
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Ava Smith set a new career high, and then immediately matched it, with 16 points apiece last week against Austin Peay and EKU. The sophomore guard tied a career with four 3-pointers made versus APSU and then canned three more triples against the Colonels. Her 34 3-pointers made are tied for fifth in the conference, and she's sixth in minutes per game (32.7).
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Olivia Pifer earned her first collegiate start against EKU. The freshman guard is a walk-on who joined the team this month after playing for the Bellarmine field hockey team in the fall. Pifer's four steals against the Colonels tied the team's individual high for the season.
• Freshman guard
Mariah Daniels is another walk-on who suited up in her first two games for Bellarmine against APSU and EKU.
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