Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A combined 45 points from seniors lifted the Belmont Bruins over the Middle Tennessee Lady Raiders, 68-57, at the Curb Event Center Saturday afternoon. The Bruins recorded their 150th win inside the walls of the Curb.
POSTGAME INTERVIEW
Belmont (5-5), who shot a season-high 52 percent from the floor, was propelled by 21 points and eight rebounds from Ellie Harmeyer. Harmeyer, was aided in scoring by fellow seniors Maura Muensterman (12 points) and Maddie Wright (12 points).
Harmeyer also jumped to ninth all-time in program history for career points in the NCAA era (1,188).
Sophomore Jamilyn Kinney dished out a career-high nine assists to give the Bruins their second-straight victory over Middle Tennessee in the last two seasons. Overall, Belmont led the mid-week tilt for 38 minutes and racked up a season-best 19 assists.
Sophomore transfer Anastasia Hayes led the Lady Raiders (6-4) with 18 points and six assists in the loss, as freshman Courtney Whitson was the only other Middle Tennessee player with double-digit points.
A 3-pointer from Wright 15 seconds in kicked off a 6-0 run for the Bruins to start the game. The Lady Raiders stormed back to cut their deficit to one point, but Muensterman stroked one from downtown to give Belmont a 9-5 lead through four minutes. After allowing Middle Tennessee back within a point, Harmeyer knocked down a 3-point shot at the 4:05 mark to fend off the in-state foes once again. A pair of free throws from freshman Kiki Britzmann capped off the Bruin first quarter, as they took a 18-15 lead after 10 minutes.
Belmont was held scoreless for the first three minutes of the second quarter, until Muensterman broke the silence with her second 3-pointer of the day to regain a 21-20 advantage. The Bruins went on to score five consecutive points, as two quick layups from Harmeyer earned the team a five-point lead with two minutes remaining in the half. Neither team scored in the final minute of the quarter, as Belmont held a 32-29 advantage at the halftime break.
The Bruins shot just shy of 50 percent from the field in the first half, while the seniors and Britzmann meshed for all of the squad's 32 points. Kinney logged five assists through 20 minutes of play, as Harmeyer and sophomore Conley Chinn each had four rebounds.
Chinn scored each of Belmont's first seven points of the second half with a pair of post finishes and a 3-pointer to jump out to a 39-31 lead. Middle Tennessee hit a shot from beyond-the-arc to cut the margin to six points. Belmont responded with a 6-0 run to take a 45-33 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter. Sophomore Maddie Cook hit a pair of shots with one minute remaining to give the Bruins a 51-41 advantage through three quarters. Belmont hit 60.9 percent of their shots in the third quarter, its highest field goal percentage in a quarter this year.
Kinney sliced through traffic to record her first points of the night and jumpstart the Bruins' scoring in the final quarter. However, the Lady Raiders responded with a five-point swing to cut down the Belmont lead to 53-48 with 6:36 remaining in the game. The Bruins answered with five points of their own from the duo of Harmeyer and Muensterman. Harmeyer racked up six-straight points for Belmont to hold off Middle Tennessee and take a convincing 64-55 lead with one minute left. The Bruins hit each of their final four shots from the charity stripe to register the 68-57 victory.
Chinn finished with seven rebounds, as she has now corralled five or more rebounds in nine of the first 10 games of the season. Muensterman (4-of-5 from 3-point range) has notched double-figure points and eight 3-pointers her last two games.
20/20: Ellie Harmeyer logged her fifth 20-point game of the season against Middle Tennessee, as she has reached the mark in back-to-back games. Harmeyer put up a pair of consecutive 20-point games earlier this season versus Northern Kentucky and Arkansas.
SENIORS ON A ROLL: Belmont's trio of seniors, Ellie Harmeyer, Maddie Wright and Maura Muensterman, have each tallied 10-plus points in the last two games and have combined for 98 points in that span.
HOME DOMINANCE: The Bruins extended their home winning streak to 11 games on Wednesday, as they have only lost four home contests dating back to 2015.
UP NEXT: Belmont travels to Milwaukee, Wisc. for its final non-conference matchup of the season against Marquette on Saturday, Dec. 21. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. at the Al McGuire Center.
