Box Score CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – A slow start and wire-to-wire ending resulted in a 70-68 Ohio Valley Conference road loss for the Belmont University women's basketball team Thursday evening at Austin Peay State University. Suffering their second-straight setback, the Bruins (10-7, 6-2 OVC) were unable to complete a comeback late after falling behind by eight with 3:10 to go.
Five different Belmont players reached double figures and the Bruins made 10 three-pointers, but the Governors (13-5, 6-2 OVC) shot 51.1 percent (23-of-45) in the win and went 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from beyond the arc and 16-for-20 (80 percent) at the free-throw line.
Senior guard Jamilyn Kinney hit a three with two minutes remaining to get Belmont within three at 65-62 and a layup from senior forward Conley Chinn made it a one-point game at 67-66 with 19.3 seconds on the clock. After a foul on Austin Peay's ensuing offensive possession and two made free throws, the Bruins were unable to find the bottom of the net as the clock quickly dwindled down. Freshman forward Tessa Miller dropped in a bucket in front of the rim as time expired, but it was too little too late as the Governors had built their lead to four at 70-66 with another pair of clutch free throws.
Despite holding a 35-24 advantage on the boards and outscoring Austin Peay 12-4 on second-chance points with 15 offensive rebounds, Belmont couldn't stop the Governors when it mattered most. Austin Peay outscored the Bruins 28-24 in the paint and 25-19 off the bench.
Belmont committed four-straight turnovers to begin the game and was held scoreless for the first 4:11 of the contest, falling behind 7-0 early. Ending the first quarter on a 5-0 run, the Bruins trailed 17-13 after the first 10 minutes of play.
A three-pointer by Kinney and a layup by sophomore forward Madison Bartley capped a 12-3 Belmont run over a nearly six-minute stretch extending back to the first quarter and knotted up the score at 20 three-and-a-half minutes into the second quarter. Sophomore guard Tuti Jones knocked down a triple with 95 seconds left before the break to give the Bruins their first lead of the evening at 27-25.
After outscoring the hosts 14-8 in the second quarter, Belmont took a two-point lead into halftime. Although the Bruins went only 9-for-26 (34.6 percent) from the floor in the first 20 minutes of action, Belmont connected on five of their six free-throw attempts and made four key three-pointers. The Governors were 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) from the field in the first half, including 3-for-8 (37.5 percent) from deep.
Two triples by Kinney and a top-of-the-key trey from Chinn put the Bruins up by six at 36-30 just over two minutes into the second half. Chinn again splashed in a three to respond to a 7-0 Austin Peay run, giving Belmont a 39-37 advantage at the midway point of the third quarter.
Layups from Miller and junior guard Kiki Britzmann and a free throw by sophomore guard Destinee Wells kept the Bruins in front by one, but a 5-0 Governor spurt over 1:23 put the home team up 50-46. Wells hit two more free throws in the closing seconds of the third quarter as Austin Peay took a 50-48 lead into the final quarter.
Keeping the Governors scoreless for the first two-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter, Miller converted a trio of foul shots to give Belmont its final lead of the evening at 51-50 with 7:46 to go. Wells' three-pointer with 6:05 remaining tied up the score at 54, but from there Austin Peay went on an 11-3 run over the following three minutes to mount an eight-point lead at 65-57. A Jones layup with just under three minutes left ignited the Bruins' final fight.
Belmont outscored the Governors 9-2 over 2:52, getting within a point in the final 20 seconds on Chinn's layup.
Austin Peay shot 56.5 percent (13-of-23) in the second half, went 5-for-7 (71.4 percent) from outside and was 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) at the foul line.
The Bruins went 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from the floor in the second half, were 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) from distance and 9-for-12 at the charity stripe. Belmont finished shooting 40 percent (22-of-55) for the game, including 32.3 percent (10-of-31) from long range, and was 14-of-18 (77.8 percent) on free throws.
Miller led all Bruins with 14 points and seven rebounds as she went 8-for-10 at the free-throw line. Kinney notched a season-high 12 points on 4-for-6 outside shooting and Wells also poured in 12 points. Jones recorded 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Chinn reached double figures with 10 for the second time in her last three outings. Britzmann posted a season-best five points in nine minutes off the bench.
The Governors were paced by guard Karle Pace, who scored a game-high 25 on 9-for-16 shooting and went 4-for-6 from three-point range. Austin Peay senior guard Yamia Johnson provided 22 points going 9-of-10 at the foul line.
The loss snapped a nine-game Belmont win streak in the series and was the Governors' first win over the Bruins in Clarksville, Tennessee, since 2015. The setback marks the first time Belmont has lost back-to-back OVC games since the start of the 2015-16 conference season.
Thursday was the fourth time this season the Bruins have had five different players reach double-figure scoring in the same game.
Up Next
Belmont returns home this weekend to host defending OVC regular season champion the University of Tennessee at Martin Saturday at 4 p.m. inside the Curb Event Center. The matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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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