Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On a night where No. 23 Belmont women's basketball honored its three-member senior class, the Bruins also solidified their second-consecutive perfect OVC season with an 84-42 victory over Tennessee State Saturday afternoon inside the Curb Event Center. BU finished conference play 18-0 while marking its 43rd-straight league win.
In the midst of extending their winning streak to 19 games, senior Kylee Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.) powered the Bruins with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in her final game at the Curb. She was accompanied by Darby Maggard (Larwill, Ind.) (17 points), Jenny Roy (Brentwood, Tenn.) (13 points), and Sally McCabe (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) in the department of double-digit scoring performances. Senior guard Sierra Jones (Huntsville, Ala.) also contributed nine rebounds and five assists.
Tennessee State (6-21, 4-14) was led by Tia Wooten's 13 points and 11 rebounds – the only Tiger to score more than eight points. Belmont (28-3, 18-0) held the Tigers to 25 percent from the field while leading them in rebounds (54-29) and assists (26-8).
The Bruins shared the ball early and often with each of their first four buckets tallying an assist along with it. The squad jumped out to an early 8-2 lead before a pair of Tiger triples knotted it all up. Both teams traded buckets for the remainder of the first quarter with Belmont hitting a couple of clutch threes to help maintain the advantage. A last second layup from Maddie Wright (Chattanooga, Tenn.) put BU up by four, 19-15, at the break.
Roy kicked off the second quarter with back-to-back shots from beyond the arc. Belmont would go on to drain six three pointers in the period alone and tally seven three-point plays in all. Smith contributed to the efforts by registering 11 consecutive points for the Bruins on her own, helping the squad to extend their lead to double-digits, 33-23. Tennessee State tried to hang around, but BU's hot hand kept them from sneaking back into the game. Maggard closed out the half with a couple of treys of her own, marking her 1,400th career point along with her 100th three of the season. BU held a 42-29 lead at halftime.
Belmont continued to find favor beyond the arc as Smith buried a three-pointer 15 seconds into the third frame. While TSU kept on fighting, BU always seemed to have an answer of its own as they outscored the Tigers 10-4 in the first five-minutes of the quarter. McCabe proved to be trouble for Tennessee State as she rejected Tiger shots on one end and found open ground for easy buckets on the other. Collectively, the squad held TSU to nine points in the stanza to take a 63-38 advantage into the fourth.
The Bruins continued to lay it on the Tigers in the fourth, outscoring them 11-4 in the first three minutes of the period. They then went on to hold TSU without a field goal for the remainder of the game, pouring 19 unanswered points over the final seven minutes of the game. The run featured four triples, including long-range contributions from freshman guard Caitlyn Yost (Lewisburg, Tenn.) and junior guard Hannah Harmeyer (Kenosha, Wisc.). Belmont limited the Tigers to 13 second-half points.
GAME NOTES
- Belmont extends its winning streak to 19 games, the fifth longest streak in the nation and second longest in school history.
- The Bruins have won their last 43 consecutive OVC games, boasting the second longest streak in the nation behind No. 1 UConn (95).
- This marks the first season that BU as won 28 games in its Division I era, and its first since the 1993-94 campaign. It's 28-3 record is also its best since 1993-94.
- No. 23 Belmont's national ranking in the AP poll is its first-ever appearance in the Top-25 and the first of any BU program.
UP NEXT
Belmont has earned the No. 1 seed for the 2018 OVC Tournament and will play the No. 8 seed on Wednesday, Feb. 28 inside the Ford Center. The scheduled tip time is set for 1:00 p.m.
