Box Score HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Belmont women's basketball (3-2, 1-0 OVC) defeated the Alabama A&M Lady Bulldogs, 71-55, on the road Friday afternoon at T.M. Elmore Gymnasium.
The Bruins outscored the Lady Bulldogs (1-1) by a 22-10 margin in the final period to leave the Rocket City with a victory. Junior forward Conley Chinn fueled the team with 10 fourth-quarter points.
Belmont was led by a trio of players who recorded double-figure points on the day: Chinn (13), freshman guard Tuti Jones (12) and freshman guard Destinee Wells (12). Chinn logged a season high in points, while Wells dished out a season-best eight assists and Jones added six steals.
The Bruins forced a season-high 29 turnovers and tallied 14 steals in the win, as they shot a 47 percent clip from the field and dished out 17 assists.
Junior forward Dariauna Lewis and senior guard Deshawna Harper combined for 30 points for Alabama A&M, while Lewis added 12 rebounds for a double-double.
Early in the first quarter, the Lady Bulldogs went up 4-0, as they held Belmont scoreless for the first three minutes of the game. A fastbreak layup from Jones got the Bruins on the board at the 6:38 mark, as a layup from junior guard Maddie Cook gave them the lead two minutes later, 9-8. Layups from Wells and freshman forward Madison Bartley in the final minutes of the period gifted Belmont a 16-13 advantage through 10 minutes.
A 3-pointer from Jones extended the Bruins' lead to open the second quarter, but Alabama A&M stormed back to cut it to two points with seven minutes left. Belmont went on to hold the Lady Bulldogs to just four points over the next several minutes. In that time, the Bruins tallied 10 points, as a layup from sophomore guard Nikki Baird kept the Belmont lead at 29-21 at the 4:24 mark. The two teams traded buckets to end the quarter, as the Bruins finished with 21 points in the period and went up 37-30 at halftime.
At the half, Jones led Belmont with a team-high nine points and four steals, while fellow freshmen Wells and Bartley meshed for 15 points. Bartley and junior guard Jamilyn Kinney recorded three rebounds apiece, as Wells posted a team-best four assists for the Bruins.
To open the third quarter, Belmont struggled to find the bottom of the net. As a result Alabama A&M cut the Bruin lead to 39-38 over halfway through the period. Belmont responded with a make from deep range from Chinn and a layup from Kinney to boost its lead to four points. The Lady Bulldogs kept the Bruin lead within a manageable margin for the remainder of the quarter, but Belmont still escaped with a 49-45 advantage going into the final 10 minutes.
Alabama A&M kept it close with the Bruins in the first three minutes of the fourth period, but a layup from Baird sparked a run for Belmont at the 6:05 mark. The Bruins recorded a 10-0 run over the following minute-and-a-half to take a 63-49 lead with just over four minutes left. Chinn scored six points herself in the run, as Belmont pushed its advantage to 18 points on a 3-pointer from Jones at the 2:45 mark. Chinn capped off the Bruins' scoring on the day with a layup 34 seconds later, as they went on to take home a 71-55 victory at T.M. Elmore Gymnasium.
In total, Belmont registered a season-high 38 points in the paint, received 24 points from its bench and tacked on 33 points off turnovers in the win. Baird and Bartley both logged season-bests in scoring with nine and eight points respectively, as Bartley also grabbed a season-high five boards. Kinney finished the game with eight points, four rebounds and a pair of steals in her 29th start as a Bruin.
SUFFOCATING DEFENSE: With 29 forced turnovers against the Lady Bulldogs on Friday, Belmont has forced its last three opponents to 25-plus turnovers.
RACKIN' UP STEALS: Freshman guard Tuti Jones, who leads the nation in steals per game average (5.5), grabbed six steals Friday to move her season total to 22 through the first four games of her career.
IN A RHYTHM: With a 47 percent clip from the floor against Alabama A&M, the Bruins have shot over 45 percent from the field in two of their last three matchups.
SELFLESS: Belmont raked in 17 assists versus the Lady Bulldogs, which marks the third time in the last four games that the Bruins have logged 15-plus assists. They have finished just one game this year with single-digit assists.
UP NEXT: Belmont stays in the Yellowhammer State to take on the Auburn Tigers Sunday at 2 p.m. in Auburn Arena.
