Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont women's basketball team dropped to the Murray State Racers, 72-66, at the Curb Event Center Tuesday afternoon.
Four different Bruins posted double-figure points on the day, as freshman guard Tuti Jones and junior forward Conley Chinn each tabbed 14 points. Junior guard Maddie Cook recorded a career-best 13 points, while freshman guard Destinee Wells registered 11 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Junior forward Allison Luly led in a pair of statistical categories for Belmont (4-3, 1-1 OVC) with eight rebounds and a career-high six assists. In total, the Bruins dished out 17 assists and racked up 29 bench points.
The Racers (6-6, 3-4 OVC) were fueled by 24 points from junior guard Macey Turley and a double-double of 13 points and 16 rebounds from freshman forward Katelyn Young. Tuesday's matchup featured seven ties and seven lead changes.
A jumper from sophomore guard Nikki Baird gave Belmont an early 2-0 lead, but Murray State stormed forward to take a 9-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game. Chinn answered back for the Bruins with 10 straight points to give Belmont a 12-10 advantage at the 4:29 mark. A 3-pointer from Jones with two minutes remaining gifted the Bruins a 19-15 lead through the first 10 minutes.
Turley knotted the contest up at 21 for the Racers on a fastbreak layup at the 7:20 mark, but an and-one from Wells seconds later kept the Belmont lead. The two teams traded buckets for the next three minutes, as a jumper from Cook extended the Bruin advantage to 30-25 with four minutes left in the half. However, Murray State struck up an 8-0 run to end the second period and take a 33-30 lead into halftime.
At the half, Chinn led Belmont with 10 points, all of which came in the first quarter of play. Jones and Wells chipped in five points apiece, while Baird and Cook each added four points respectively. The Bruins shot an impressive 61.5 percent from the floor to open the game, but hit just 4-of-17 shots in the second quarter.
Both Belmont and the Racers hit a 3-pointer and a layup in the first three minutes of the second half, as Murray State still held a three-point lead. However, deep range makes from Jones and freshman guard Blair Schoenwald leaped the Bruins out in front, 45-44, at the 2:57 mark. After a pair of buckets from the opposition, Jones hit yet another 3-pointer to tie things up at 48 with one minute left. The Racers knocked down a 3-pointer of their own in the final seconds of the quarter to take a 53-50 advantage into the final period.
Belmont scored five consecutive points to open the fourth quarter to take a 55-53 lead at the 7:34 mark. Murray State responded with a 5-0 run as well to take its advantage back to three points by the halfway mark of the period. Wells kept the Bruins in striking distance with a couple of layups through traffic, but the Racers rode another run to jump out to a 66-59 lead. A 3-pointer from junior guard Jamilyn Kinney cut the deficit to four points with seven seconds remaining, but Murray State still took the 72-66 victory.
Overall, six out of eight Belmont players grabbed three or more rebounds on the afternoon, as it scored 24 points in the paint. Additionally, all but two Bruins logged a steal in the loss, while Baird, Schoenwald and Kinney combined for 14 points.
FULL TEAM EFFORT: Belmont received 29 points from their bench against the Racers, its second-most bench points this year. The Bruins have tabbed 20-plus bench points in two of their last three outings, as their season-high of 37 points came on Dec. 10 against Tennessee State.
RIPPIN' EM: With 10 steals versus the Murray State, Belmont has grabbed double-digit steals in each of their last five appearances. The Bruins now now average an impressive 12.3 steals per contest this year.
SHARING THE BALL: Belmont kept up its lofty assists numbers Tuesday with 17 assists, as it has tabbed at least 15 assists in all but two games this season.
UP NEXT: The Bruins round out the week with two more home contests versus Eastern Illinois on Thursday (4 p.m.) and SIU Edwardsville on Saturday (1 p.m.).
