Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn.- Paced by career highs from Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) , the Belmont University women's basketball team (5-1) fought hard to earn a 102-93 victory over Troy Sunday evening at the Curb Event Center.
This is the first time in 20 years that the Bruins have eclipsed the 100 point mark, as the last BU team to do was the 1994-95 team that surpassed the century mark four times during that season.
"Offensively we were terrific tonight. We really did a good job of attacking and sharing the ball. I love how hard we competed tonight and fought. We had a handful of players step up when it was their number that was called," said Head Coach Cameron Newbauer after the win.
Smith finished with 24 points, while Maggard 23, both players played exceptionally well and were instrumental in BU's win over the high-octane Troy Trojans.
"I was just feeling super excited and I wanted to do anything for my team to win. It was a dogfight the whole game. We just kept pushing through, I'm glad we stuck with it and got the win," added Smith.
The Maggard/Smith duo combined for 47 points, but scoring the basketball wasn't their only focus, as Maggard added a team-high six assists while Smith notched five.
"I'm really proud of our team for never giving up and never quitting. We just kept battling and staying together," Maggard said.
Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wis.) had a career-high 16 points off the bench. Harmeyer, as she has many times already on the young season, provided quite a spark off the BU bench. The freshman forward finished 6-of-7 from the field, and showed great poise, playing high magnitude minutes for the Bruins. Harmeyer grabbed eight boards as well.
Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) put together a double double performance, as she scored 16 and added 11 rebounds. McCabe defended the rim for BU all night as she notched three blocked shots. Jenny Roy (Franklin, Tenn.) scored 11 points off the bench.
The Bruins, for the third consecutive Sunday home game, erased a sizable deficit this time trailing by as many as 9, but finding a way to come out with a victory.
The Bruins shot 54% from the field, and 50% from behind the arc as they connected on a season-high 11 three pointers.
Belmont carried a 48-44 lead heading into the intermission after facing a deficit as large as nine points. The Bruins jumped out to an early 11-7 lead as Troy struggled to find its rhythm on offense. The Trojans would catch fire, however, as they utilized a 13-0 run to grab a nine point advantage over the Bruins. BU had a 7-0 run of its own to tie the score up at 30-30 midway through the second frame.
The Bruins, often susceptible to slow starts so far this season, were outscored 26-17 in the first quarter, but got things cooking in the second, as they outscored Troy 31-18. Smith needed just 16 minutes to eclipse her previous career high of 14 points, as the Vanderbilt transfer netted 16 points in the first half, including a career-high three 3 point makes. Smith, along with Roy, and Harmeyer, knocked down critical three pointer jumpers during BU's second quarter run.
Belmont's is now 5-1 for the first time since 2009-10.
Belmont had two quarters in which it scored 30 or more points, to put that into perspective, its opponent on Tuesday night, Alabama A&M, scored just 28 in the entire game when the teams met.
Troy opened the game 0-of-5 from the field, in which all of its shots were three pointers. The Trojans nearly surpassed their season average of 8.3 three pointers made per game in the first half as they netted eight.
The Bruins held Troy shy of its season average of 96.7 points per game, and also managed to contain Ashley Beverly Kelley, who is the Sun Belt conferece's leading scorer. Beverly Kelley did finish with 20 points but needed 24 shots to do so.
Belmont returns to action Wednesday Dec. 2 when it travels down Belmont Boulevard for a showdown with the Lipscomb Bisons. Tipoff at Allen Arena is set slated for 6:30 p.m. and the action can be streamed live on ESPN3.
