Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University women's basketball defeated Eastern Kentucky, 95-63, Saturday afternoon to claim the 2016 Ohio Valley Conference Women's Basketball Championship and an automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship.
The Bruins, among the nation's top rebounding teams, used their size, depth and persistence to methodically break free from a talented Eastern Kentucky team.
Belmont shot 50 percent from the field and had seven different scorers in building a 41-26 halftime lead.
Sophomore Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) led the Bruins with 10 first half points.
McCabe continued her stellar play, as seven consecutive points early in the third quarter pushed the margin to 51-32.
The Colonels got as close as 11, but a stabilizing three-pointer from sophomore Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga) and quality bench production from junior Frankie Joubran (Detroit, Mich.) and freshman Ellie Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wis.) pushed the margin to 70-53 after three quarters.
Remarkably, Belmont committed only one turnover the first 24 minutes of the game, and outrebounded Eastern Kentucky, 54-22.
All told, Belmont shot 52 percent (31-for-60) from the field and handed out 23 assists on 31 made field goals.
McCabe led five Bruins in double figures with 23 points en route to Tournament Most Valuable Player honors. OVC Freshman of the Year Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) had eight points and six assists to earn All-Tournament Team honors.
Despite a scoreless opening two minutes, the two teams traded baskets to close out the first quarter with Belmont up by two, 18-16.
Led by aggressive drives from Smith against the EKU pressure defense, Belmont opened the second quarter scoring seven of the first nine points. After a jumper from the Colonels, Harmeyer and Smith each hit a pair of free throws to bring the lead to nine.
Belmont turned up its defense late in the second quarter, outscoring EKU 23-10.
The Bruins continued to showcase balanced scoring, toughness and unselfishness to stave off EKU rallies.
But most notably, Belmont controlled the backboards, limiting the Colonels to one shot opportunity most of the afternoon.
Carrying a 17-point lead in the final 10 minutes, sophomore Sierra Jones (Huntsville, Ala.) put up eight points in the fourth quarter alone.
Senior Natalie Cohlmeyer (Evansville, Ind.) got in during the waning moments and hit a crowd-pleasing three-pointer that punctuated the game, and the total tournament performance.
The 32-point margin of victory was the largest in OVC Women's Basketball Championship history.
Belmont (24-8) has won 16 of its last 17 games.
The Bruins earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history, the first since 2007.
Belmont will learn its seed, site location and opponent during the selection show on the evening of Monday, March 14.
2016 OVC Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team
Sally McCabe, Belmont
Darby Maggard, Belmont
Shameekia Murray, Eastern Kentucky
Jalen O'Bannon, Eastern Kentucky
Shronda Butts, SIUE
Most Valuable Player: Sally McCabe, Belmont
