Bruins Head to Murfreesboro Wednesday to Face Middle Tennessee

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Returning to game action Wednesday evening, the Belmont University women's basketball team heads down I-24 to take on Middle Tennessee for a midweek non-conference tilt. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. inside the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Dr. Rich Tiner providing play-by-play of the action on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Beginning a challenging five-game stretch away from home, the Bruins (1-1) face their first road test of the season.
• Last year's matchup with Middle Tennessee, which was supposed to take place in the Music City on Dec. 19, was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns within the Belmont program.
• Wednesday evening will be the 33rd all-time meeting between the two programs with the Lady Raiders holding an 18-14 lead in the series.
• The Bruins have won each of the last three matchups with Middle Tennessee and head coach Bart Brooks is a perfect 3-0.
• Two seasons ago on Dec. 6, 2020, Belmont defeated the Lady Raiders 70-64 on the road when Middle Tennessee was receiving votes in the USA Today Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches Poll. Then a freshman, Destinee Wells scored 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting as fellow freshman Tuti Jones scored eight points and pulled down eight rebounds. Then a sophomore, Nikki Baird earned one of her six career starts in the victory. Scoring 42 first-half points, the Bruins dominated the glass with a 49-33 rebounding advantage and scored 36 points in the paint. The Lady Raiders missed 22 free throws in the contest, going 22-of-44 at the foul line, while Belmont went 9-for-21 (42.9 percent) from beyond the arc.
• Middle Tennessee, who went 27-8 overall last season and reached the WNIT semifinals, is the second of at least 12 programs who made a national postseason tournament last March on the Bruins' 2022-23 schedule. The Lady Raiders are also the second of no fewer than 11 20-win teams from a year ago that Belmont will face this season.
• Last week, 5-foot-9 guard Jailyn Banks from Spring Hill, Tennessee, signed with the Bruins as one of two signees for Belmont's 2023 class. Banks stars at Middle Tennessee Christian School, which is located in Murfreesboro.
• This past Sunday the Bruins took top-10 ranked Louisville to the brink at home, leading late in the fourth quarter and trailing by only one with 6.4 seconds on the clock. Belmont went 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) from outside and led by as much as six in the second quarter. The tightly-contested game featured 20 lead changes and 17 ties with neither team leading by more than six. The Cardinals, who are now ranked sixth in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25, were the first reigning Final Four team to visit the Curb Event Center and the first top-10 team the Bruins hosted since No. 16 Georgia on Dec. 12, 2013.
• On opening night last 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 gritty 56-54 win. 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.
• On Monday afternoon, Wells was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week after a pair of 20-point performances in the first two games of the season. The junior guard scored 26 of her 40 points on the week in the fourth quarter, grabbed a career-high tying seven rebounds versus Chattanooga and put Belmont in front of nationally-ranked Louisville with only 2:17 remaining. Wells went 7-for-7 at the free-throw line against the Mocs, igniting a game-altering 13-2 run in the fourth quarter with a conventional three-point play, and scored 13 of her team-high 20 points in the final quarter versus the top-10 Cardinals. The Lakeland, Tennessee (Houston HS), native also distributed a game-best four assists in the matchup with Louisville and went 12-for-13 at the charity stripe in the two games.
• Wells became the Bruins' 33rd 1,000-point scorer Sunday and on Tuesday was named to the 2022-23 John R. Wooden Award^® presented by Wendy's^® Preseason Top 50 Watch List. One of only four mid-major players to appear on the prestigious watch list, Wells has scored 1,004 points and registered 261 assists in only 58 career games. She has reached double-figure scoring in 45 of her last 47 games and 53 of 58 career outings. Wells owns 22 20-point games and was tabbed MVC Preseason Player of the Year in Belmont's first year in the league.
• Between Harvey, who scored 1,142 points at South Florida and has accounted for 1,158 career points, and Wells, the Bruins have two career 1,000-point scorers.
• The Bruins are receiving seven votes in the AP Top 25 and eight votes in the USA Today Sports/WBCA Coaches Poll.
• One of the premier mid-major programs in the country, Belmont is ranked No. 6 in the nation in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25^®.
• Entering their first season in the MVC, the Bruins were picked to win the conference after a vote of the league'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.
• Ranked 25th in Sports Illustrated's 2022-23 basketball preview edition, the Bruins have either been ranked or received votes in at least one of the two major national polls for eight-straight seasons.
• Belmont is the only non-power conference team to reach the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 each of the last two seasons.
• The Bruins have earned a national postseason bid nine of the last 10 years and reached each of the last six NCAA Tournaments.
• 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-straight seasons.
• The Bruins own 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 his sixth season at the helm, coach Brooks has guided the Bruins to an impressive 124-35 (.780) record and eight combined conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles.

About the Lady Raiders

• Middle Tennessee went 1-1 over the opening week of play, dropping a one-point affair at 2022 NCAA Tournament qualifier Mercer on a buzzer-beater (76-75) and notching a 52-point road victory at fellow MVC member Southern Illinois (90-38).
• After going 14-4 in league play last season and finishing second in Conference USA, the Lady Raiders were picked to win the 2022-23 regular season title.
• Led by 18th-year head coach Rick Insell, the program's winningest head coach with 406 victories, Middle Tennessee has reached 19 total NCAA Tournaments. The Lady Raiders' most recent NCAA Tournament appearance was in 2021 where they fell in the first round to third-seeded Tennessee (87-62).
• Middle Tennessee came back from a 22-point deficit in the WNIT semifinals last spring against Seton Hall but was narrowly defeated 74-73.
• The Lady Raiders feature three C-USA preseason all-conference selections in 5-foot-6 junior guard Savannah Wheeler, 6-foot junior forward Courtney Whitson and 6-foot redshirt senior forward Kseniya Malashka.
• Returning C-USA All-Freshman Team performer Jalynn Gregory, a 5-foot-8 guard, has scored 33 points through the first two games of the season. A 2021-22 C-USA First-Team All-Conference pick, Wheeler has scored 28 points in her first two outings while 2021-22 C-USA Sixth Player of the Year Malashka and Whitson have provided 24 and 22 points, respectively, to go along with 10 boards each. Wheeler also leads the team with 11 assists last week.

Up Next
Belmont continues its strenuous road stretch at fourth-ranked Iowa Sunday afternoon. Tipoff from Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, is slated for 2 p.m. The marquee non-conference matchup will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network+.
 
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.