Box Score OXFORD, Miss. – In just its second game of the season, the Belmont University women's basketball program collected a big road win defeating a power conference opponent. The Bruins topped the Southeastern Conference's Ole Miss 62-50 inside the Sandy and John Black Pavilion Thursday night in Oxford, Mississippi.
Behind a game-high 21 points and six assists from sophomore guard Destinee Wells and stingy defense, Belmont (2-0) beat an SEC program on the road for the second consecutive season.
In a homecoming of sorts for Jackson, Mississippi (Jackson Academy), native Conley Chinn, the senior forward poured in 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.
The Bruins held the host Rebels (0-1) to 32.2 percent (19-of-59) shooting and scored 17 points off 16 Ole Miss turnovers. Despite giving up plenty of size, especially on the interior, Belmont outworked the Rebels 39-37 on the glass.
Just two nights removed from shooting 53.3 percent on free throws, the Bruins went 10-for-12 (83.3 percent) at the foul line. Overcoming a 39.3 percent (22-of-56) shooting night, Belmont made plays during key stretches and showed composure for the entire 40 minutes of play.
The Bruins' discipline on both ends of the court and elite ball movement proved to be too much for receiving-votes Ole Miss.
An impressive start put Belmont up 16-3 after one quarter of action, the Bruins limiting the Rebels to just one field goal and one free throw in the first 10 minutes. A Wells triple gave Belmont a 9-1 lead at the first media timeout before nailed a three off an Ole Miss turnover. Freshman forward Tessa Miller knocked down a pair of free throws to complete the scoring for the quarter.
Going 8-for-16 from the field and 3-for-6 from outside, the second quarter proved to be the Bruins' best shooting period of the night. Nine of Wells' 21 points came in the second quarter with sophomore guard Blair Schoenwald connecting on both of her three-point attempts. The Rebels also hit eight shots in the quarter, but a Schoenwald trey made it a 16-point game at 19-3 just 11 seconds into the stanza. After Ole Miss trimmed the lead to 11 twice, Layups from senior guard Jamilyn Kinney and Wells pushed Belmont's advantage back out to 15 at 28-13 with 4:38 to go before the break.
Wells stroked in a three with just under 30 seconds remaining in the half to make it 37-22 and the Rebels' Mimi Reid made two free throws right before the halftime buzzer.
Holding Ole Miss to nine first-half field goals (9-for-28), the Bruins shot 41.9 percent (13-of-31) across the first half, going 5-12 (41.7 percent) from long range and 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. Belmont outrebounded the Rebels 21-16 in the first 20 minutes and assisted on 11 of its first 13 baskets.
Both teams were scoreless for the first 2:07 of the second half before Ole Miss went on a 6-0 run to start the third quarter, getting back within single digits at 37-30. A second-chance layup by Miller broke the Bruins' second-half scoring drought nearly four-and-a-half minutes in. The Rebels would get a jumper from forward Madison Scott to make it a seven-point contest once again with 5:16 remaining in the third quarter. However, it would be as close as Ole Miss would get for the remainder of the game.
Back-to-back threes from sophomore guard Tuti Jones put Belmont back up by 13 with two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the quarter and the Bruins closed the third on a 13-4 run. Chinn sent a wing three through the nylon to extend Belmont's advantage to 16 at 52-36 before neither team scored in the final 1:25 of the quarter.
Despite a slow start and zero trips to the foul line in the third quarter, the Bruins went 3-for-5 from deep.
Shooting just 30 percent (3-for-10) in the fourth quarter, Belmont got four points from sophomore forward Madison Bartley as the Rebels outscored the Bruins 14-10. All nine of Ole Miss guard Angel Baker's points came in the final quarter, but the Rebels couldn't get any closer than eight.
A 9-2 Ole Miss run over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter was capped by a Baker jumper, making it a nine-point affair at 54-45. After layups by Bartley and Wells, the Rebels' Reid completed a conventional three-point play to bring Ole Miss within eight at 58-50 with 1:18 to go.
After a lost ball on Belmont's ensuing possession, Bartley secured a defensive rebound with 58 ticks left following a Rebel second-chance jumper miss. Wells and Chinn both went 1-for-2 on free-throw trips down the stretch before Jones made both of hers with 20 seconds left. Both Jones and Kinney came up with steals on Ole Miss' last two possessions of the night.
Jones finished with 10 points, five rebounds and four steals, while Kinney had five assists, five boards and a pair of steals. In just her second collegiate game, Miller snagged seven rebounds, scored six points and distributed a trio of assists.
The Bruins held 6-foot-5 returning All-American honorable mention center Shakira Austin to five points and eight rebounds. Austin, who is on several national player of the year preseason watch lists and reining SEC Freshman of the Year Scott combined for nine fouls. Scott finished with a team-high 16 points and game-high six steals to go along with eight boards. The Rebels also got 12 points from Reid, who was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor and 6-for-6 at the charity stripe.
Ole Miss entered Thursday night receiving five votes in the preseason USA Today Sports/WBCA (Women's Basketball Coaches Association) Top 25 Coaches Poll.
Up Next
Belmont wraps up its season-opening three-game road trip within six days Sunday when the Bruins visit 17th-ranked Georgia Tech. Tipoff from McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET. The non-conference game will broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
Belmont season tickets, which include the entire men's and women's basketball home schedule, are on sale now at BelmontBruins.com/Tickets, in addition to flex packs, single game tickets and group experiences. Fans can also call or text 615.460.BALL (2255).
To become a Bruin Club member, contact Russell Grimm at (615) 460-5668 or russell.grimm@belmont.edu.
Follow Belmont women's basketball on social media - @BelmontWBB on Twitter, @belmontwbb on Instagram and Belmont Women's Basketball on Facebook - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
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