LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s basketball program will host Bellarmine on Thursday, November 17 at 7:00 PM ET inside Memorial Coliseum, marking the third in-state game of the season for the program. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+, with Jeff Piecoro and Christi Thomas on the call.
It is the program’s annual professor and teacher appreciation game.
Memorial Coliseum doors will open one hour prior to tip time. Bags must adhere to the UK Athletics Clean Bag Policy and bags and items will be checked. To avoid additional touch points, fans are strongly encouraged not to bring unnecessary bags into Memorial Coliseum. More on UK Athletics’ clean bag policy can be found online here.
Game parking is available beginning three hours prior to tip-off in most surface lots around Memorial Coliseum, including the High Street Lot, East Maxwell Lot, Joe Craft Center Lot, College View Lot, Alumni Center Lot and Career Center Lot. Cornerstone Garage and Parking Structure no. 2 will open two hours before tipping. The Gatton Student Center lot is a paid parking lot while all other parking options are free. The JCC lot is primarily used for handicap/mobility parking. At this point in the season no transportation is provided.
Darren Headrick will have the call on the UK Sports Network at 630AM WLAP in Lexington. Free live audio will be available online at UKathletics.com and live stats will be available online at KentuckyStats.com.
The Wildcats are 3-0 this season, with all three wins coming within a seven-day span. Sophomore guard Jada Walker has led the team in scoring this season, while senior guard Robyn Benton has scored in double figures in three straight games. Three players are averaging double figures in 2022-23, including Benton (15.7), Walker (14.0) and Blair Green (10.7).
Kentucky is shooting 47.7 percent from the field while averaging 78.0 points per game this season. Nearly 60.0 percent of her 94 field goals have been the product of his 63 assists. The Wildcats lead the Southeastern Conference and rank in the top 15 in the nation in assists per game, averaging 21.0.
Meanwhile, Kentucky is holding its opponents to 39.5 percent from the field and less than 60.0 points per game.
Kentucky is coming off a season-high 26-point victory over Coastal Carolina, 79-53, last Sunday. Walker led the team with a career-high 21 points, a career-high 10 assists and a season-high five steals. It marked her first career double-double and UK’s first double-double of the season. She is leading the conference game in assists with that performance.
The Wildcats also forced the Chanticleers into 32 turnovers in the game, as the Cats scored 27 points off those turnovers. The Cats are ranked third in the conference and top 10 in the nation in forced turnovers.
Bellarmine is 0-2 this season, with both losses coming on the road. Hayley Harrison, a native of Winchester, Kentucky, scored 19 points against LSU in the season opener last Monday, while she and Gracie Merkle, a native of Mount Washington, Kentucky, lead the team with 12.5 points per game. Merkle is also leading the rebounding effort, leading her team with 8.0 rebounds per game.
The Knights, who moved up to NCAA Division I in July 2020, are averaging 56.0 points per game on 36.0 shooting. They average 9.5 assists per game, 6.5 steals per game and 3.5 blocks per game.
The game will mark the first meeting between the two teams in 46 years, as all six games were played in the 1970s. According to Kentucky records, only two of those six meetings were contested in the varsity era, which began in 1974-75 .
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB at I tweet, Instagram AND Facebook.
