Bruins Welcome Top-10 Ranked Louisville to the Curb Sunday

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For the first time in school history a Belmont University basketball team will host a reigning Final Four team inside the Curb Event Center. Belmont women's basketball welcomes top-10 ranked Louisville to the Music City Sunday afternoon for a marquee non-conference matchup. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m.
 
Sunday's game will be a white out and fans are encouraged to wear white. Free white-out t-shirts will be distributed to fans in attendance.
 
The highly-anticipated matchup between two NCAA Tournament regulars will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Dr. Rich Tiner (play-by-play) and former Bruin guard Hannah Harmeyer (analyst) calling the game. Jay Gilmore, a Belmont media studies professor, will serve as sideline reporter. The non-conference contest can also be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeart Radio. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• For the first time since the 2013-14 season, the Bruins will host a nationally-ranked opponent. Belmont was defeated 81-55 by No. 16 Georgia on Dec. 12, 2013, at the Curb.
• The Bruins host two power conference programs this season with fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Georgia Tech visiting on Sunday, Dec. 4. It marks the second consecutive season Belmont has hosted a power conference team after the Bruins were handed a 71-62 setback by visiting Auburn on Dec. 15 of last year.
• Belmont is 5-11 all-time versus current ACC members with victories over Louisville, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Clemson. The Bruins routed the Cardinals 96-34 during the 1972-73 season under the direction of program founder and women's basketball pioneer Betty Wiseman.
• Sunday's game will be Belmont's first against an Associated Press (AP) top-10 team since taking on then 10th-ranked Louisville on Dec. 5 last season. The Bruins are 0-6 versus teams ranked in the top 10 of both national polls, 0-7 against teams ranked in the top 10 of the AP Top 25 and 0-8 against USA Today Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches Poll top-10 teams.
• Belmont last defeated a nationally-ranked opponent on March 22, 2021, in the NCAA Tournament when the Bruins ousted 14th-ranked and fifth-seeded Gonzaga 64-59 in the first round. Last season, Belmont defeated receiving-votes Ole Miss 62-50 on the road in non-conference action before upending receiving-votes Oregon 73-70 in double overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
• The Cardinals are ranked No. 7 in the preseason AP Top 25 and No. 5 in the preseason USA Today Sports/WBCA Coaches Poll.
• Sunday's matchup will be the third in recent years between the two teams. Louisville defeated the Bruins 80-66 in Kentucky last December after earning a 73-50 home win over Belmont on Nov. 13, 2016.
• Sunday afternoon's game will be the sixth all-time meeting between the two programs with the Cardinals holding a 4-1 lead in the series.
• The Bruins' 66 points scored at Louisville last December were the most the Cardinals had allowed in any game until that point. After trailing by 23 late in the third quarter, Belmont made a valiant effort in the final quarter sparked by an ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 made half-court shot by Destinee Wells at the third-quarter buzzer. Scoring 42 second-half points, the Bruins outscored Louisville 22-16 in the fourth quarter and got within 11 with just under five minutes to go following a 12-4 run. Wells led all scorers with 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting, while Blair Schoenwald went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and connected on two fourth-quarter threes. Madison Bartley also reached double figures with 11 points. The Cardinals had four double-figure scorers led by Hailey Van Lith's 16 points.
• Louisville is the first of 11 opponents on Belmont's 2022-23 schedule that won at least 20 games last season. The Cardinals are also the first of at least 12 teams who made a national postseason tournament last March and the first of no fewer than seven 2022 NCAA Tournament teams the Bruins face this season.
• On opening night Wednesday, Belmont overcame a 14-point deficit at home against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and used a 25-9 fourth quarter to earn a 56-54 victory. The Bruins got clutch free throws from Wells with 24.4 seconds remaining to give Belmont its first lead of the game at 55-54. In her first game as a Bruin, South Florida graduate transfer Sydni Harvey sunk a free throw with 16 seconds left and the Mocs' Raven Thompson missed a heavily-contested shot in the paint at the buzzer. Wells scored 13 of her game-high tying 20 points in the final quarter as she went 7-for-7 at the foul line. The junior guard finished with a career-high tying seven rebounds while fellow junior guard Tuti Jones scored 11 points, distributed a game-high tying three assists and came up with a game-best four steals.
• Belmont received 14 votes in the preseason AP Top 25 and nine votes in the USA Today Sports/WBCA Coaches Poll.
• One of the premier mid-major programs in the country, the Bruins are ranked No. 6 in the nation in the preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25^®.
• Belmont ended last season ranked 45th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), while Louisville finished fifth.
• Entering their first season in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Bruins were picked to win the league after a vote of the conference's head coaches, sports information directors and media members. Belmont received 32 of 44 possible first-place votes in the preseason predicted order of finish.
• Wells is only 16 points away from becoming the Bruins' 33rd 1,000-point scorer. The Lakeland, Tennessee (Houston HS), native is an early candidate for the Nancy Lieberman Award, Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy and Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award. Wells is also the preseason MVC Player of the Year and has reached double figures in 44 of her last 46 games and 52 of 57 career outings. Wednesday night was Wells' 21st career 20-point game.
• Ranked 25th in Sports Illustrated's 2022-23 basketball preview edition, Belmont has either been ranked or received votes in at least one of the two major national polls for eight-straight seasons.
• The Bruins are the only non-power conference team to reach the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 each of the last two seasons.
• Belmont has earned a national postseason bid nine of the last 10 years and reached each of the last six NCAA Tournaments.
• The Bruins are 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-straight seasons. The Cardinals have won 20 or more games for 12-straight seasons.
• Belmont owns the 17th-most victories in Division I women's basketball history (1,035).
• Belmont is the only school in the nation to win 20 or more games for seven consecutive seasons in both men's and women's basketball.
• In 2021-22, Belmont and BYU were the only two schools in the country who received votes in top-25 coaches polls in men's and women's basketball and baseball during their respective regular seasons.
• Since the start of the 2012-13 season, the Bruins are 107-22 (.829) inside the Curb. Head coach Bart Brooks is 55-8 (.873) at home since taking over the reins of the program in April of 2017.
• In his sixth season at the helm, coach Brooks has guided Belmont to an impressive 124-34 (.785) record and eight combined conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles.

About the Cardinals

• Louisville began its 2022-23 campaign Monday evening with an 87-68 win over Cincinnati and defeated Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis 84-62 Thursday night. Sunday will be the Cardinals' first road test of the season.
• Also a Naismith Trophy watch list member like Wells and an early candidate for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, given annually to the top shooting guard in the nation, junior Hailey Van Lith has scored 40 points in Louisville's first two games of the season. Ranked as the No. 9 collegiate player by ESPN, Van Lith was named NCAA Wichita Regional Most Outstanding Player last spring and is second on the team with 12 rebounds through the Cardinals' first two outings.
• A 6-foot-2 guard, Florida State graduate transfer Morgan Jones is averaging 11.5 points after Louisville's first two games. She was the Seminoles' 21st All-American and has grabbed 11 boards this season.
• Named 2018-19 Big 12 Freshman of the Year while at Texas Tech, graduate point guard Chrislyn Carr leads the Cardinals with seven assists this season. Like Wells, Carr is on the Nancy Lieberman Award preseason watch list.
• In the interior, Louisville has plenty of length with leading rebounder Olivia Cochran, a 6-foot-3 junior forward who is averaging seven rebounds through the first two games of the year, and 6-foot-5 graduate forward Liz Dixon. Cochran is on the preseason watch list for the Katrina McClain Award, given to the best power forward in the nation. Utah Valley graduate transfer center Josie Williams, who stands at 6-foot-5, has only played 21 minutes this season but appears on the preseason watch list for the Lisa Leslie Award, given to the nation's top center.
• Last season, the Cardinals reached the Final Four as a No. 1 seed before bowing out to national champion South Carolina 72-59. Louisville won the Wichita Regional with a 62-50 win over third-seeded Michigan. In the Sweet 16, the Cardinals ousted 18th-ranked and fourth-seeded Tennessee. The Bruins came within a ball bounce of facing Louisville in that Sweet 16 matchup as the host Lady Vols escaped Belmont's upset, 70-67, with a corner three pointer in the closing seconds.
• The Cardinals went 29-5 overall in 2021-22 and finished second in the ultra-competitive ACC with a 16-2 league record.
• Led by 16th-year head coach Jeff Walz, the winningest coach in program history, Louisville has made two national title games, reached four Final Fours, made seven Elite Eights, reached 11 Sweet 16's and earned 24 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Up Next
The Bruins begin a challenging five-game road stretch at Middle Tennessee Wednesday evening before traveling to top-five ranked Iowa next Sunday. Tipoff from the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro Wednesday is set for 6 p.m. The non-conference road game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
Both single game and season tickets are on sale. Season tickets are only $199 per seat and include all men's and women's basketball home games. Click here to view available seating and purchase your seats.
 
Flex pack plans for the 2022-23 season are also on sale and can be purchased here. For more information, call 615-460-BALL or visit BelmontBruins.com.
 
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.