Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- After falling behind by as many as 10 points, the Belmont women's basketball team (7-7, 2-0 OVC) rallied to come behind for a win at home over Southeast Missouri State (5-8, 0-1 OVC) in a New Year's Eve afternoon tilt. The Bruins picked up a 71-58 win over the Redhawks to notch their second-straight OVC victory. The win evens the all-time series to three games each between the programs.
BU opened the contest hot from outside with sophomore Katie Carroll (Lilburn, Ga.) and senior Alyssa Visbeen (Franklin, Tenn.) draining back-to-back triples. Three minutes later, the Redhawks had worked to knot the game at eight after a jumper from the right elbow by senior Katie Brooks (Maryville, Tenn.) brought the Belmont bench to its feet. Suddenly, SEMO exploded for an 11-0 run to pull away 16-8 by the 13:20 mark, forcing the Bruin bench to burn a timeout to regroup from a drought that lasted four minutes that had opened the door.
Redshirt freshman Blair Bryce (Red Oak, Texas) and redshirt sophomore Jordyn Luffman (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) forced a pair of turnovers and found the bottom of the net with a jumper and a trifecta, respectively, on successive possessions, snapping the drought and moving Belmont to within two, 19-17, with 9:40 remaining on the clock. However, the Redhawks remained hot behind the arc but Belmont continued to put in work on both sides of the ball. By the 6:50 mark, quick work behind a triple by Brooks and a lay-up by Visbeen gave the BU a slim 22-21 lead.
The teams continued trading baskets over the next three minutes, with neither able to pull away by more than three points until SEMO suddenly used a scoring flurry to expand its lead to seven, 32-25, with just under two minutes left on the clock before the break. Unfortunately, BU went icy from the hardwood during the same span and the Redhawks built a nine-point advantage, 34-25, with 43 ticks left on the clock. A strong defensive performance kept SEMO from scoring again before the buzzer but the Bruins were unable to make anything happen offensively and took the same deficit into the locker room.
The Bruins forced back-to-back turnovers to open the second stanza as Brooks netted two of her trademark jumpers from the elbow to move BU to within striking distance, 34-29. By the 17:05 mark, SEMO had amassed its greatest lead of the contest, 39-29, but Belmont began whittling away at it over the next several minutes. Four minutes later, Belmont turned on the afterburners and opened a massive rally to get back into the game. Sophomore Adrienne Tarrence (Bowling Green, Ky.) got things started with a steal and fast break layup to open up a 13-2 run that included baskets from senior Jordan Coleman (Orlando, Fla.), Luffman, sophomore Torie Vaught (Maryville, Tenn.), senior Katie Brooks (Maryville, Tenn.) and Carroll. At the end of the flurry, the Bruins had gained a five-point advantage, 51-46, with just over nine minutes left on the clock.
The Redhawks stormed back and two minutes later had closed the gap to a mere point, 51-50 after a pair of free throws by Allyson Bradshaw. Vaught answered back in convincing fashion with back-to-back jumpers, sandwiching a Bradshaw turnover caused by stringent BU defense. SEMO threatened again, moving to within three but that would be as close as it would come for the remainder of the contest. Belmont was able to expand its lead again behind a 6-1 run to go up, 61-53, with two and a half minutes left.
With just 1:56 left in regulation, Visbeen was fouled as she made a layup and saw the following and-one free-throw bounce off the rim before Luffman snatched the offensive rebound as BU gained its first double digit lead of the afternoon. Despite hitting three free throws in the waning seconds, SEMO was unable to recover from Belmont's lead as it continued to grow behind shots at the charity stripe by Tarrence, Luffman and Brooks. The Redhawks pushed for a layup in the final 18 seconds but BU held the ball and dribbled out the final seconds to secure the 71-58 win.
SEMO shot 36.4 percent from the floor, 26.3 percent from three-point range and 76.5 percent from the free-throw line.
The Redhawks were led in scoring by Bailie Roberts, who scored 18 points. Jordan Hunter and Allyson Bradshaw also reached double figures, adding 13 and 10 points, respectively. Patricia Mack led the team in rebounds with a game-high 11 boards.
Belmont shot 47.5 percent from the hardwood, 25 percent from behind the three-point arc and 73.3 percent from the charity stripe. The Bruins held the advantage in rebounds, 39-32, assists, 16-15, blocks, 6-2, and steals, 8-7.
Brooks led the Bruins with a game-high 21 points. Luffman matched her career-high of 13 points and sophomore Torie Vaught (Maryville, Tenn.) rounded out the double digit scorers with 11 points. Seniors Jordan Coleman (Orlando, Fla.) and Alyssa Visbeen (Franklin, Tenn.) each pulled down seven rebounds. Visbeen finished with a career and game-high three blocks.
Belmont returns to action on Saturday, January 5 for its first OVC road contest. The Bruins travel to in-state rival Tennessee Tech for a matchup starting at 5:30 p.m. The contest can be seen live on the OVC Digital Network and heard live via the internet on the Bruin Sports Network. Live stats and a Twitter feed (@BelmontWBB) will also be available.
