Box Score CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Senior Ellie Harmeyer's fourth consecutive double-double propelled the Belmont Bruins past the Southeast Missouri Redhawks, 57-45, at the Show Me Center Thursday evening.
Harmeyer finished with a season-high 27 points, 15 rebounds and three assists on a 10-of-12 clip from the foul line. Fellow senior Maura Muensterman recorded 13 points and three rebounds for the Bruins, as sophomore Conley Chinn chipped in eight points and seven rebounds.
Belmont (8-6, 3-0 OVC) rode a 15-2 run over the final seven minutes of the game, while they held the Redhawks to 28 percent shooting from the field on the night.
Junior Tesia Thompson led Southeast Missouri (9-5, 1-2 OVC) with 24 points and eight rebounds, as only three other Redhawks scored in the game.
Southeast Missouri jumped out to a 4-0 lead early in the first quarter, while the Bruins remained scoreless for the opening four minutes. Harmeyer scored Belmont's first six points to knot the game up at 6-6 with 4:47 left in the period. The two teams traded buckets, but five points from Chinn in the final minute gave the Bruins a 15-12 lead going into the second quarter.
The Redhawks shot out to an 8-4 run to open the second period, as a free throw from Harmeyer cut down Belmont's deficit to two points at the halfway point. After two minutes of scoreless action on both sides, freshman Kiki Britzmann hit a slashing layup in the paint to tie the game up at 22 apiece. Muensterman and sophomore Jamilyn Kinney knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to take a 28-26 advantage at the halftime break.
Harmeyer posted a near double-double of nine points and eight rebounds at the half, while Muensterman and Chinn combined for 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting. The Bruins outrebounded their counterpart by a 23-16 margin through the first 20 minutes.
Following nearly four minutes of play in the second half, Southeast Missouri took a 32-29 lead in the third quarter. Harmeyer answered with five straight points to give Belmont a 4-point lead with 3:45 remaining in the period. Belmont deferred the lead once again to the Redhawks with two minutes left, but Harmeyer responded with four points from the foul line to take a 40-38 lead. Muensterman knocked down a buzzer-beater 3-pointer to give the Bruins a 42-41 advantage with 10 minutes left to play.
Southeast Missouri tacked on four points through five minutes of the final quarter but would not find the bottom of the net for the rest of the night. Harmeyer, Muensterman and Chinn meshed for all 15 of Belmont's points in the period. The Bruins forced the Redhawks to a 13.3 field goal percentage on 2-of-15 shooting in the fourth quarter. Muensterman capped of the 12-point victory for Belmont with 40 seconds remaining.
Overall, eight different Bruins tallied a rebound in the win, as Muensterman recorded her fifth game in double-figure points in the last six games. Belmont outrebounded Southeast Missouri 49-39 and logged 24 points in the paint.
LOCK IT DOWN: The Bruins forced the Redhawks to shoot 28 percent from the field on Thursday, which marks the fifth straight game they have held their opponent to below a 33 percent clip this year.
20/20: Ellie Harmeyer has posted a pair of 20-point double-doubles in her last three games, as she also accomplished the feat against Chattanooga, Lipscomb and SIU Edwardsville.
GLASS CLEANERS: With 49 rebounds against the Redhawks Thursday, the Bruins now average nearly 50 rebounds per game and a plus-16.7 rebound margin through three conference matchups.
CONFERENCE DOMINANCE: Belmont is now 68-2 in its last 70 Ohio Valley Conference games.
UP NEXT: The Bruins return to the hardwood Saturday for a road matchup with UT Martin. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the Elam Center.
QUOTES:
Ellie Harmeyer, Senior Forward
"I feel like this game is reflective of how hard our team has worked these past couple of weeks. We have had some games that have not gone our way in the non-conference season, but our team really battled these last couple of weeks in practice and I definitely think that contributed a ton to the win tonight. Everyday in practice the team comes and competes as hard as we can and that has helped us tremendously, especially when we play really good teams like tonight. My team does a really great job of finding my in the post and making really great passes to me. I could not do anything without them. Even with rebounding, my teammates are often times boxing out their matchups, which makes it easy to go get the rebound. I am really proud of my team tonight and excited to see the growth that we will keep experiencing."
