Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn.- In a matchup featuring the two highest powered offenses in the OVC, the host Belmont Bruins (15-7, 7-2) certainly lived up to the billing as they knocked off visiting Morehead State, 99-71 Wednesday evening at the Curb Event Center.
Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) put together her best all-around performance of the season as she finished with a career-high 27 points to go with 12 rebounds. Smith, who notched her second double double of the season, also dished out a career-high seven assists. Five Bruins in total reached double figures. Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) scored 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Lauren Thompson (Franklin, Tenn.) came through with a 14 point, 8 rebound effort on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Sierra Jones (Huntsville, Ala.) added 13 while Frankie Joubran (Detroit, Mich.) recorded 10 points off the BU bench.
Smith praised her teammates after the win saying, "My teammates just got me the ball and I shot when I was open. I think we played really well as a team."
The Bruins have now won seven in a row and are now 10-0 at the Curb Event Center. Belmont has scored at least 80 points in all of their home OVC matchups and nine games overall.
Belmont's 99 points were its most points scored since it scored 90 in a victory at Lipscomb on Dec. 2.
At the end of the first quarter it was Belmont leading 24-20. The Bruins opened 10-of-20 from the field and were able to outpace Morehead State who elected to push the tempo from the get go.
The fast-paced action carried onto the game's second quarter. In this frame, the Bruins were able to flex their muscles a tad to extend their lead to 50-37heading in to the half. At the intermission, three Bruins had already tallied double digits; Smith was the leader of the pack. The Vanderbilt transfer put together a great end game stat line in just the first half as she scored 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists. Smith found a rhythm from behind the arc, as she knocked down 4-of-6 three pointers. Smith scored as many points as she played minutes in the first half. Thompson finished 5-of-7 from the field in half one for 10 points. Maggard scored 10 of her own and knocked down a pair of three pointers.
Belmont finished the half shooting 19-of-41 (46.3%) from the field. The Bruins reached the 50 point threshold in the first half for the third time this season, all of which have occurred at the Curb Event Center.
BU opened the third quarter with a 16-8 run and led by 21 at 66-45 with 3:53 remaining. Belmont's lead grew to 22. Smith continued her excellent play in third quarter as she scored 10 points in just eight minutes of action in the stanza. After a Morehead State turnover led to a Belmont run out, Smith converted a fast break lay in to score her 26th point, a new career high. The third quarter was when the Bruins really managed to wear out the Eagles and was a pivotal part of the game.
Wednesday's matchup featured the OVC's top two teams in terms of scoring offense as Morehead State entered the game averaging 82.0 points per game while Belmont compiled a 73.8 points per game average heading into the contest.
When asked about how Belmont neutralized such a high-scoring offense Thompson remarked, "They're a really good transition team, and we practiced against that all week. They run the floor really well so we knew we had to get back and push it back in transition the opposite way. We did really well on defense and doing things we really need to do."
Morehead State entered the game averaging the fourth-most rebounds per game in all of Division I with 46.83. BU outrebounded the visiting Eagles, 48-34.
Belmont had just nine turnovers in the win. BU shot 48 percent from the field and 40% (10-of-25) from beyond the arc for the game.
Five reached double figures for Morehead State as well, Shay Steele paced the squad with 16 points.
The Bruins face a quick turnaround as they returns to action Saturday, Feb. 6 when they host Eastern Kentucky for 3 p.m. tilt at the Curb Event Center.
