Women's Basketball Selected as MVC Preseason Favorites

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Entering its first year in the league, the Belmont University women's basketball team has been named as the preseason favorite to win the 2022-23 Missouri Valley Conference regular season title following a vote of the conference's head coaches, sports information directors and media members. Also announced by the league office Tuesday morning, junior guard Destinee Wells has been selected as 2022-23 MVC Preseason Player of the Year and is a member of the preseason All-MVC Team.
 
The Bruins, who are fresh off their second consecutive NCAA Tournament Round of 32 appearance last March, received 32 of 44 possible first-place votes in the preseason poll and 508 total voting points. Defending MVC Tournament champion Illinois State earned seven first-place nods and 444 points in the voting to claim second place in the preseason predicted order of finish, followed by Drake with six first-place votes and 438 points. Familiar conference foe Murray State picked up two first-place votes and is fourth in the MVC preseason rankings with 397 points, while Northern Iowa (393) is fifth and Missouri State (388) sixth with a single first-place designation. Defending Valley regular season champion Southern Illinois (270) is seventh with Indiana State (257) eighth and Evansville (207) ninth. Valparaiso (197), Bradley (133) and the University of Illinois Chicago (112) round out the 12-team preseason list.
 
Returning seven of its top nine scorers from a team that went 23-8 last season and won a fifth Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship in six years with a 16-2 league record, Belmont is poised for another big year with five talented newcomers. Winning their sixth OVC Tournament title in seven seasons, the Bruins closed out their 2021-22 campaign by becoming just the second program in Division I women's basketball history to win NCAA Tournament games in back-to-back seasons as a No. 12 seed or lower. Belmont was within a ball bounce of its first Sweet 16 versus fourth-seeded and 18th-ranked Tennessee after defeating fifth-seeded Oregon 73-70 in a double-overtime NCAA Tournament First Round thriller.
 
Wells, in addition to junior guard Tuti Jones and junior forward Madison Bartley, were All-OVC First Team selections at the conclusion of last season and each look to expand their game even further this winter. The trio accounted for over 50 percent of the Bruins' scoring and assists last year while combining for over 400 rebounds. They will welcome the added depth of transfers Sydni Harvey (South Florida) and Kendal Cheesman (Vanderbilt), along with freshmen Caroline Bachus, Brooke Highmark and Kate Hollifield. A graduate guard, Harvey was the 2021 American Athletic Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player and begins her Belmont career as a 1,000-point scorer.
 
The Bruins have posted a remarkable 141-30 (.825) record in league play over the last 10 seasons and gone 21-4 over their last 10 conference tournaments.
 
Belmont is the only non-power conference program to reach the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 each of the last two seasons and has earned a national postseason bid nine of the last 10 years. Either ranked or receiving votes in at least one of the two major national polls for seven-straight seasons, the Bruins own the 17th-most wins all-time in Division I women's basketball (1,034). Belmont is one of just 12 programs in the nation and one of only three non-power conference teams (Florida Gulf Coast and South Dakota State) to win 20 or more games for seven consecutive seasons.
 
With one of the most strenuous 2022-23 schedules in all of college hoops, the Bruins will face no fewer than 11 20-win programs from a year ago and at least 12 teams who made a national postseason tournament last March. Belmont is slated to play seven 2022 NCAA Tournament programs with the possibility of seeing even more at the Gulf Coast Showcase (Nov. 25-27) in Estero, Florida. During their non-conference schedule, the Bruins will host both reigning Final Four participant Louisville (Nov. 13) and ACC mainstay Georgia Tech (Dec. 4).
 
Head coach Bart Brooks, who begins his sixth season at the helm in November, has gone 123-34 (.783) in his first five years in the Music City. Ranking among the top 10 of active Division I head coaches in terms of winning percentage, Brooks has put together an astounding record of 92-10 (.902) versus conference opponents, including league tournament games.
 
One of 20 watch-list candidates for the 2023 Nancy Lieberman Award, which recognizes the top point guard in the country, Wells has been terrific in her first two seasons. The only freshman in the nation to average at least 17.5 points, 4.5 assists and 2.4 steals in 2020-21, Wells has scored in double figures in 43 of her last 45 games and 51 of 56 career games. Starting in all but one game she has donned the Belmont jersey, Wells begins the season needing only 36 points to become the Bruins' 33rd 1,000-point scorer. In addition to her scoring ability, Wells has compiled 255 assists, 188 rebounds and 91 steals in her first two years.
 
The Lakeland, Tennessee (Houston HS), native was named Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Year and was tabbed All-American honorable mention by World Exposure Report following her sophomore campaign. Wells claimed back-to-back spots on the All-OVC First Team and became only the second player in OVC history to earn OVC Tournament MVP honors as both a freshman and sophomore.
 
Reaching double figures in all but two games in 2021-22 (29), seven of Wells' 11 20-point performances took place during the most important months of the season – February and March. She ranked among the top 65 players in the nation in both total assists (140) and assists per game (4.5) while finishing the season with 519 points and 112 rebounds.
 
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.