The Western Kentucky women’s basketball team swept through a three-game homestand to move to 4-3, but it will now be away from the friendly confines of E.A. Diddle Arena for the majority of its remaining nonconference schedule.

The Lady Toppers play four of their next five games on the road, starting with a 5:30 p.m. CT game at Bellarmine on Thursday.

It’ll be only the second true road game for the young WKU team, but its second time hitting the road. The Lady Toppers played three games in Manhattan, Kan., in the Preseason WNIT, which it started with an 86-76 win over North Carolina A&T and followed with losses to host Kansas State and UT Martin.

“Obviously we’ve got to learn how to play on the road,” WKU head coach Greg Collins said after Sunday’s 77-65 win over Tennessee State. “North Carolina A&T is going to be one of the best teams in their conference. They’ve been there traditionally, so we got to play them at a neutral site. Now we’ll have to learn to play somebody on their home court and someplace where they’re comfortable and they have their fans. The good thing is we don’t have to do that three times in four days. We’ve just got to do it one at a time. That’ll be a good learning experience.

“I don’t really expect any difference in our preparation. They’re very conscious about how they go about getting ready, so now it’s just a matter of being able to do that in somebody else’s arena.”

The next five games will conclude WKU’s nonconference schedule, and four of those will be on the road. After Bellarmine, WKU will host Tennessee Tech on Sunday before games at Miami-Ohio on Dec. 15, at Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 17 and at Belmont on Dec. 22. The Lady Toppers are scheduled to host Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech on Dec. 30 and Jan. 1, respectively, to open Conference USA play.

WKU is hoping to continue its recent stretch of strong play that’s featured wins over Kentucky State, Indiana State and Tennessee State that gave the program its first winning record since it finished the 2019-20 season 22-7.

Through seven games, Meral Abdelgawad has led WKU with 14.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, but two true freshmen are also chipping in with double-digit scoring.

Alexis Mead is averaging 12 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, and Mya Meredith is averaging 10.9 points and 4.3 rebounds.

“I think we’re a young team obviously, but we’re capable of playing maturely,” said Mead, who was named the C-USA Freshman of the Week after averaging 20.5 points, five assists and 4.5 rebounds last week against the Sycamores and Tigers. “We all know how to play basketball – it doesn’t matter if we’re freshmen or not. It’s about whether you’re a good basketball player. … It’s progress, but we’re getting better each day.”

Bellarmine enters at 1-4 with losses to Cincinnati, Louisville, Western Illinois and Ohio State and a win over Morehead State its last time out. Jaela Johnson is the only Knight averaging double-figure scoring at 11.8 points per game, while Presley Brown and Kathleen Scott each add over nine per game.

The two teams met last season at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bellarmine’s second game as a Division I program, and the Lady Toppers came away with an 82-49 victory to take an 9-2 lead in the all-time series.

WESTERN KENTUCKY (4-3) AT BELLARMINE (1-4)

5:30 p.m. CT Thursday/Freedom Hall

Probable starters

WESTERN KENTUCKY

Selma Kulo, f, 6-4, so. (2.3 ppg, 2 rpg); Mya Meredith, g, 5-11, fr. (10.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg); Alexis Mead, g, 5-5, fr. (12 ppg, 3.6 rpg), Meral Abdelgawad, g, 5-11, sr. (14.7 ppg, 8.6 rpg); Macey Blevins, g, 5-10, fr. (8.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg).

BELLARMINE

Lauren Deel, f, 5-11, sr. (4.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg); Jaela Johnson, g, 5-5, r-jr. (11.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg); Claire Knies, g, 5-10, so. (5.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg); Kathleen Scott, g, 5-8, sr. (9.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg); Mackenzie Keelin, g, 6-1, r-so. (6.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg).

Television

ESPN+

Radio

ESPNKY 102.7 FM

Coaches

Greg Collins (53-41, fourth year; 53-41 overall), WKU; Chancellor Dugan (149-106, 10th year; 469-396 overall), Bellarmine.

Series record

WKU leads the all-time series 9-2 (WKU won the last meeting 82-49 on Dec. 16 at E.A. Diddle Arena.)

Last time out

Western Kentucky won 77-65 at home against Tennessee State on Sunday; Bellarmine won 68-61 at home against Morehead State on Saturday.{&end}