Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont women's basketball team (17-12, 11-5 OVC) sealed no lower than the #4 seed in next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament after handily defeating Jacksonville State (1-26, 1-11 OVC) in its regular season finale on Saturday afternoon at the Curb Event Center. The Bruins handed its senior class a victory with its dominating 69-49 win.
BU jumped out to an early 6-0 lead behind a pair of free throws by senior Katie Brooks (Maryville, Tenn.), a tip-in by sophomore Katie Carroll (Lilburn, Ga.) and fast break layup by senior Jordan Coleman (Orlando, Fla.), forcing the Gamecocks bench to burn a timeout to stop the streaking Bruins. Belmont continued to keep Jacksonville State off the scoreboard for the nearly the first five minutes of play as two more points came from senior Alyssa Visbeen (Franklin, Tenn.), who used a drop shot in the paint to extend the run to 8-0 by the 16:35 mark.
JSU was completely stagnated from the hardwood, unable to net a field goal until the 12:47 mark of the first stanza as the Bruins continued to roll. Junior Molly Ernst (Louisville, Ky.) opened up a flurry of shots from behind the arc, knocking down three while Visbeen and redshirt sophomore Jordyn Luffman (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) drained one apiece. At the end of the rapid fire pace, BU was on top 23-6 and Jacksonville State was forced to burn another timeout, hoping to develop a strategy to slow the Bruins.
The Gamecocks seemed to only find success at the charity stripe in the first half with the stringent defensive effort by Belmont which kept them at shooting less than 10 percent from the floor through much of the first half. BU continued to pile on the points and JSU nearly called its third timeout of the half after a triple by freshman Natalie Cohlmeyer (Evansville, Ind.), tallying the team's seventh of the stanza to put Belmont ahead 39-18, but was saved by the under four minute media timeout. In the final two and a half minutes of the half, JSU finally began seeing shots fall from the floor however, a completed three-point play by Luffman pushed BU ahead by 22, 42-20, as the clock headed into the final 90 seconds of the half..
After the break, the Bruins continued to roll behind back-to-back layups by Carroll and Coleman. Six minutes in saw sophomore Torie Vaught (Maryville, Tenn.) got hot on both sides of the ball, scoring from both the free-throw line and in the lane while simultaneously turning into a fierce one-woman-rebounding-crew, pulling down four offensive and one defensive in short succession. Her attack opened the door for Visbeen to drain a jumper in the paint to give Belmont its biggest lead of the day, 26 points, 57-31, with 12:28 remaining in regulation.
Jacksonville State looked to claw back and was able to close the gap to 18, 60-42, propelled by a 7-0 run but it was too little too late. Ernst drilled her fourth triple of the afternoon and the Bruins used a combination of strong clock management and baskets by Coleman and Luffman with a pair at the charity stripe by sophomore Adrienne Tarrence (Bowling Green, Ky.) to seal the 69-49 victory.
Jacksonville State shot 30.2 percent from the floor, zero percent from three-point range, and 85.2 percent from the free-throw line. The Gamecocks held the slim advantage in rebounds, 41-40.
JSU was led in scoring by Danielle Vaughn, who scored a game-high 16 points. Also reaching double figures were Miranda Cantrell and Candace Morton, who contributed 13 and 11 points, respectively. Vaughn also led the team in rebounds, grabbing 12 to record a double-double.
Belmont shot 35.7 percent from the hardwood, 40 percent from behind the three-point arc and 78.6 percent from the charity stripe. The Bruins held the advantage in assists, 15-7, blocks, 3-1, and steals, 10-2.
Ernst led the Bruins with 13 points, with the assistance of four three pointers. Luffman also reached double figures, adding 12 points. Reigning OVC Newcomer of the Week Coleman pulled down 10 rebounds and was just two points shy of tallying a double-double. Tarrence finished with a game-high six assists.
Belmont returns to action next week at the OVC Tournament in Nashville.
