LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Bellarmine University women’s basketball team will begin its third season in Division I and the ASUN Conference as the Knights prepare to take the court in 2022-2023.
Bellarmine will warm up by hosting Brescia in an exhibition game at 1:00 PM (ET) on Saturday at Freedom Hall.
Bellarmine will enter his 11th season under the head coach Chancellor Duganwho ranks third in program history with 152 career victories with the Knights.
Bellarmine went 4-24 overall last season. The Knights’ wins were highlighted by a 68-61 triumph over Morehead State and a 68-48 conference win over Lipscomb, the latter representing the largest margin of victory against a D1-level opponent in the D1 era.
WHO RETURNS
Bellarmine returns four starters who started 12 games or more last season and six total who appeared in at least 22 contests.
guard Jaela Johnson, a senior, led Bellarmine in scoring (12.8) in her first season with the Knights while ranking second in assists (2.5), steals (33) and 3-pointers made (45). She earned an ASUN Newcomer of the Week award last season and recorded five 20-point games, including a 24-point effort at Ohio State.
Mackenzie Keelin, a redshirt freshman guard, also had a strong first season at Bellarmine. She led the Knights in 3-pointers made (52) and 3-point percentage (37.1) while ranking third in rebounding (4.2) and fourth in scoring (7.7). Keelin posted double-doubles against ASUN foes Liberty and North Florida.
Little guard Claire Knies is the third returning starter in the backfield. She averaged 5.3 points and 2.1 rebounds. Her best outing came in Cincinnati, where Knies hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points.
Forward Sheniqua Coatney, a senior who recorded 12 starts last year, has led Bellarmine in rebounding in both of her seasons with the Knights. She averaged 5.0 boards per game last season and also blocked a team-high 21 shots. Coatney turned in a 17-point, 13-rebound performance against Evansville.
Junior forward Lucy Robertson (3.7 points, 3.2 rebounds) appeared in 27 games last season as the sophomore forward Haley Stoklosa (2.9 points, 1.6 rebounds) saw action in 25 contests in her debut season and led the team in field goal percentage (46.8).
The second guard Bralee Trice (1.6 points, 1.4 rebounds) missed the nonconference portion of the schedule due to injury, but appeared in 14 ASUN games.
Redshirt sophomore guard Hannah Farrell was limited to five games last season due to injury. Little Redshirt Guard Ashley Harris and redshirt sophomore guard Lydia Reimbold are also back after missing all of last season due to injury.
WHO’S NEW
Johnson and Keelin were impact transfers, and Bellarmine hopes the same can be said for the senior forward. Cam Browning and redshirt junior guard Hayley Harrison.
Browning played more than two seasons at Belmont and appeared in nearly 60 games. As a sophomore, she averaged 4.9 points and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 63.2 percent from the field. Harrison received a medical redshirt at UT Martin in 2019-2020 and followed it up with 49 appearances over the next two seasons. As a sophomore, she started 12 games and averaged 5.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
Bellarmine’s true starters include guards Aly Avrach, Miyah Brown, Jayla Butler AND Amaya Curry and 6-foot-6 center Gracie Merkle.
CHAIRMAN’S OPPONENTS
In addition to its 18-game ASUN slate, Bellarmine has an exciting nonconference slate that includes road games at LSU (Nov. 7) and Kentucky (Nov. 17) and a showdown with Louisville at Freedom Hall (Dec. 14). All three were NCAA Tournament teams in 2021-22, with the Cardinals advancing to the Final Four.
Bellarmine will also host Wofford (Dec. 17) and Murray State (Dec. 20), both of which earned berths in the WNIT last season. Louisville, Wofford and Murray State cap December in which the Knights play six of their seven games in the month at home.
ASUN play begins in January, with nine home games and nine road games making up the conference slate. Tips for League action Jan. 2 in Jacksonville.
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