Women's Basketball Makes Short Trip for 76th Battle of the Boulevard

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Continuing its non-conference slate, the Belmont University women's basketball team makes the short drive to the opposite end of Belmont Boulevard Tuesday evening for the 76th Battle of the Boulevard versus in-town rival Lipscomb. Tipoff from inside Allen Arena approximately two miles down the boulevard from the Bruins' campus is set for 6 p.m.
 
The midweek game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and Dr. Rich Tiner will have the call of the action on Belmont All-Access via BelmontBruins.com. Live in-game statistics will also be available at BelmontBruins.com.

What's Bruin

• Having lost six of its last seven Belmont (2-6) looks to get back to its winning ways.
• Tuesday evening's tilt at Lipscomb will be just the third true road game for the Bruins. Belmont is 0-2 thus far on the road with difficult tests at Middle Tennessee (Nov. 16) and then fourth-ranked Iowa (Nov. 20).
• The Bruins return to the hardwood following back-to-back tightly-contested Sunday afternoon battles with Atlantic Coast Conference mainstay Georgia Tech.
• Against one of the most daunting non-conference schedules in the nation, Belmont's last three losses have been by two possessions or less.
• The second ACC team the Bruins hosted inside the Curb Event Center this season the Yellow Jackets once again escaped Belmont in a 59-55 affair Sunday.
• After a 58-52 setback to Georgia Tech to close out the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase at Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida, two Sundays ago on Nov. 27, the Bruins nearly avenged their loss this past weekend. Despite trailing the Yellow Jackets for all but a little over two minutes of the contest, Belmont led by one with four minutes to go. Junior forward Madison Bartley rattled in a three-pointer with just over four minutes remaining to give the Bruins their only lead at 53-52. However, Georgia Tech outscored Belmont 7-2 in the closing minutes as the Bruins were unable to capitalize on multiple opportunities to tie or take the lead in the final two-and-a-half minutes. Hampered by a sluggish start and a minus-12 rebounding margin (49-37), Belmont didn't score for the first three-and-a-half minutes of the game and found itself trailing by 12 late in the first quarter. The Bruins overcame a 13-point first-half deficit with a 17-10 third quarter and tied things up at 41 early in the fourth quarter. Sophomore forward Tessa Miller crashed the offensive glass and scored on a layup to knot the score at 50 with just under six minutes left. Belmont outscored the Yellow Jackets 34-28 in the second half and limited Georgia Tech to 30 percent second-half shooting. Uncharacteristically, the Bruins went 4-for-20 from beyond the arc but finished 15-of-18 at the free-throw line, including going 13-for-15 at the foul line in the second half.
• With the first NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings of the season published Monday, Belmont is 105th as the fifth-highest Missouri Valley Conference team. The Bisons enter Tuesday with a NET ranking of No. 175.
• With a non-conference strength of schedule that ranks 18th in the country, the Bruins have already faced five top-75 NET teams in No. 16 Iowa, No. 21 Villanova, No. 26 Middle Tennessee, No. 64 Louisville and No. 66 Georgia Tech. In fact, Lipscomb will be just the second opponent for Belmont this season not ranked in the top 115 of the NET rankings.
• The Bruins have already taken on three nationally ranked teams this season with a tough four-game stretch from Nov. 13-25. Belmont played host to then seventh-ranked Louisville (Nov. 13) before traveling to Middle Tennessee (Nov. 16) and then fourth-ranked Iowa (Nov. 20). On Friday, Nov. 25, the Bruins battled then 23rd-ranked Villanova in a high-scoring 83-80 loss. Five of Belmont's first seven opponents won over 20 games last year and earned a national postseason tournament bid. In total, 11 opponents on the Bruins' 2022-23 schedule won at least 20 games last season and 12 reached a national postseason tournament last March. Seven of those were 2022 NCAA Tournament teams.
• Belmont holds a commanding 49-26 (.653) lead in the Battle of the Boulevard and is 26-9 versus the Bisons in the Bruins' NCAA era. Since Lipscomb became NCAA Division I members, Belmont is 24-6 against the Bisons.
• The Bruins have won 12 straight in the series dating back to the 2011-12 season and head coach Bart Brooks is a perfect 4-0 versus Lipscomb.
• The Bisons have not defeated Belmont since Jan. 27, 2011, when Lipscomb claimed a 73-59 victory at Allen Arena.
• In the Bruins' last visit down the boulevard on Dec. 11, 2019, senior guard Maura Muensterman nailed a contested three in the final seconds to lift Belmont over the Bisons, 69-68.
• Last season, the Bruins pulled out a gritty 67-62 win at the Curb in the 75th rendition of the Battle of the Boulevard. Junior guard Tuti Jones poured in a career-high 29 points on 10-for-13 shooting and junior guard Destinee Wells delivered the final blow with a pull-up jumper in the final minute. Belmont overcame a slow start and 23.5 percent first-half shooting by scoring 44 points in the second half. Despite being outscored 36-16 in the paint and 24-7 off the bench, the Bruins came up with nine steals and forced 20 turnovers. Belmont went 6-for-14 from distance in the second half while shooting 46.4 percent overall from the field. Jones finished 7-for-9 from long range and went on a 9-4 run of her own midway through the third quarter with three consecutive treys. Wells scored 16 points in the triumph and sealed the game with three free throws in the last 20 seconds.
• Belmont and Lipscomb were conference adversaries in the Atlantic Sun Conference, now the ASUN Conference, for nine seasons from 2003-12.
• Four different Bruins have posted 20-point performances this season. Over Thanksgiving weekend at the Gulf Coast Showcase in the Sunshine State (Nov. 25-27) junior forward Madison Bartley (22 vs. Georgia Tech), junior guard Destinee Wells (26 vs. Saint Louis), sophomore guard Kilyn McGuff (20 vs. Saint Louis), and graduate guard Sydni Harvey (24 vs. No. 23 Villanova) all reached 20 points in a game.
• Wells has been held under double figures in consecutive games just once in her impressive career, finishing with nine points at then top-five ranked Iowa on Sunday, Nov. 20 after scoring five at now receiving-votes Middle Tennessee on Wednesday, Nov. 16. She is coming off a team-leading 15-point performance against the Yellow Jackets Sunday.
• Following the first week of the season, Wells was tabbed MVC Player of the Week after a pair of 20-point home showings against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and top-10 ranked Louisville. Wells scored 26 of her 40 points on the week in the fourth quarter, grabbed a career-high tying seven rebounds against the Mocs, and put Belmont in front of the nationally-ranked Cardinals with only 2:17 remaining. The Lakeland, Tennessee (Houston HS), native became the Bruins' 33rd 1,000-point scorer in the tightly-contested matchup with seventh-ranked Louisville and was named to the 2022-23 John R. Wooden Award^® presented by Wendy's^® Preseason Top 50 Watch List after the opening week of the season. One of only four mid-major players to appear on the prestigious watch list, Wells has scored 1,082 points and registered 289 assists in only 64 career games. She has reached double-figure scoring in all but five of her last 53 games and 56 of 64 career outings. Wells owns 23 20-point games and was tabbed MVC Preseason Player of the Year in Belmont's first year in the league.
• Between graduate guard Sydni Harvey, who scored 1,142 points at South Florida and has accounted for 1,226 career points, and Wells, the Bruins have two career 1,000-point scorers.
• Belmont received seven votes in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 and eight votes in the USA Today Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches Poll following week one of the regular season. The Bruins received 14 votes in the preseason AP Top 25 and nine votes in the preseason USA Today Sports/WBCA Coaches Poll.
• One of the premier mid-major programs in the country, Belmont began the season 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 program 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 NCAA Division I women's basketball history (1,036).
• 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.
• In his sixth season at the helm, coach Brooks has guided the Bruins to an impressive 125-40 (.758) record and eight combined conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles.

About the Bisons

• Led by fourth-year head coach Lauren Sumski, Lipscomb is off to a 5-4 start. Two of the Bisons' five wins have come against non-NCAA opponents in Wilberforce University (81-54) and Oakwood University (77-46). Lipscomb also owns victories over Mississippi Valley State (67-45), Hawai?i (73-69) and Western Kentucky (84-66).
• The Bisons enter Tuesday having won three of their last four but suffered a 74-64 loss at Tennessee State this past Saturday night.
• Lipscomb went 10-20 last season, finishing fourth in the ASUN West Division with a 5-11 league record.
• Picked to finish 11th in the 14-team ASUN according to the conference's preseason coaches and media polls, the Bisons feature 6-foot-2 redshirt sophomore forward Aleah Sorrentino. The reigning ASUN Newcomer of the Week and an Ole Miss transfer, Sorrentino leads the team in scoring (16.4 PPG) and rebounding (7.7 RPG).
• Senior 5-foot-9 guard Jalyn Holcomb (15.2 PPG) and sophomore 6-foot-2 guard/forward Bella Vinson (11.8 PPG), a returning ASUN All-Freshman Team selection, are also averaging double-figure scoring. Freshman 5-foot-6 starting point guard Ainhoa Cea leads Lipscomb in assists with 4.9 per game.

Up Next
Belmont will have an 11-day break from game action before heading to Southeastern Conference stalwart Georgia on Saturday, Dec. 17. 

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.
 
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