Bruins Take 76th Battle of the Boulevard 77-68 Tuesday Evening

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In her first career start, sophomore guard Kilyn McGuff scored a career-high 25 points and the Belmont University women's basketball team earned its 13th-straight victory over Lipscomb in the 76th Battle of the Boulevard at Allen Arena Tuesday evening. An all-around performance led the visiting Bruins (3-6) to a 77-68 triumph against the host Bisons (5-5) as Belmont got back to its winning ways.

Lipscomb jumped out to a 12-4 lead, but the Bruins stormed back before the end of the quarter and led for nearly 29 minutes of the contest. Junior guard Destinee Wells turned in her fourth 20-point game of the season and senior guard Nikki Baird nearly had her first double-double with 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds.

Belmont scored 36 points in the paint, owned a plus-nine differential on the glass (41-32) and outscored the Bisons 14-2 on the fast break. The Bruins used a 17-9 second quarter to set the tone for the night before a high-scoring second-half ensued.

Sophomore forward Tessa Miller also made her first career start and finished with six boards as freshman guard Brooke Highmark provided a spark off the bench. Finishing with a career-high seven points, Highmark was 3-for-3 from the field.

Trailing by eight three-and-a-half minutes in, Belmont went on a determined 12-0 run ignited by five consecutive points from McGuff. A Wells jumper put the Bruins up 16-12 with just under two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the quarter. Belmont led 18-17 after the first quarter of action and was able to withstand Lipscomb's 8-for-16 start from the floor.

A wing three-pointer by Highmark gave the Bruins their second four-point lead at 28-24 with just over three-and-a-half minutes to go in the half and Belmont closed the opening 20 minutes on an 11-2 run. McGuff converted a conventional three-point play and graduate guard Sydni Harvey sunk a pull-up jumper with only a few ticks left in the first half, giving the Bruins a nine-point advantage at 35-26 heading into the locker room.

Belmont held the Bisons to 23.5 percent (4-of-17) shooting in the second quarter and the Bruins capitalized on six of their seven free-throw attempts. Despite going 2-for-13 (15.4 percent) from outside in the first half, Belmont shot 40 percent (12-of-30) overall from the field in the first two quarters and went 9-for-11 at the foul line. McGuff had 11 points at the break and the Bruins outrebounded Lipscomb 25-16 in the first half.

Just 15 seconds into the second half Wells hit a three to give Belmont its first double-digit lead of the evening at 38-26. The Bisons trimmed it to four midway through the third quarter, but a McGuff layup and a Baird triple quickly pushed the lead to nine at 50-41. Back-to-back layups from Wells closed the third and put the Bruins up 56-47 heading into the final quarter of play.

Both teams shot 60 percent (9-of-15) in the third quarter with Belmont going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc and Lipscomb going 1-for-2 from long range.
 
The Bisons methodically worked their way back into the game with an 8-2 run to start the fourth. Four-straight Lipscomb free throws made it a three-point affair at 58-55 with 5:20 to go. However, seven consecutive points from Wells extended the Bruins lead to 10 at 65-55 with just under four minutes left. Another and-one opportunity for McGuff on a layup made it a 12-point contest at 69-57 with 3:17 remaining, before McGuff knocked down her second three of the game to give Belmont a comfortable 72-60 lead with just under two minutes to go.
 
The home team would get no closer than eight the rest of the way and a Miller free throw with 21 seconds left gave the Bruins their largest lead at 77-64.
 
Belmont cooled off just a bit in the fourth quarter but still shot 50 percent (5-of-10) from the floor, including going 2-for-3 from distance. The Bruins went 9-for-15 (60 percent) at the charity stripe in the final quarter and held the Bisons to 35.3 percent (6-of-17) shooting.

Both squads scored 42 second-half points with Belmont shooting 56 percent (14-of-25) from the field and going 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) from deep. Lipscomb shot 46.9 percent (15-of-32) in the second half but was 2-for-7 (28.6 percent) from outside.
 
All told, the Bruins shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) for the game, including 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from three-point distance, and finished 18-of-26 (69.2 percent) at the foul line. Belmont limited the Bisons to 22.2 percent (4-of-18) three-point shooting and Lipscomb was 41.5 percent (27-of-65) overall from the floor. Going 10-for-12 (83.3 percent) at the free-throw line, all 12 of the Bisons' fouls shots came in the second half.

McGuff finished 9-for-13 from the field, including 2-for-4 from beyond the arc, and claimed five rebounds. Both McGuff and Wells scored 14 points in the second half. Miller distributed a season-high four assists and Harvey grabbed a season-best six boards.
 
Lipscomb was led by starting guard Jalyn Holcomb, who scored 17, and fellow starting guard Bella Vinson, who notched 15 points and six rebounds. The Bisons also got eight points and nine boards from reigning ASUN Conference Newcomer of the Week Aleah Sorrentino.

Of Note
The Bruins entered Tuesday having lost six of their previous seven games. The win is Belmont's first true road victory of the season. The Bruins improve to 50-26 in the Battle of the Boulevard. Belmont is 27-9 versus Lipscomb in the Bruins' NCAA era. Since the Bisons became NCAA members, Belmont has gone 25-6 against Lipscomb. Head coach Bart Brooks is a perfect 5-0 versus the Bisons.
 
Up Next
The Bruins have an 11-day break from game action before heading to Southeastern Conference stalwart Georgia on Saturday, Dec. 17.
 
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