Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Behind a season-best 64.2 percent shooting performance the Belmont University women's basketball team earned a dominant 39-point, 85-46 victory at Tennessee State Thursday evening inside the Gentry Center. Sophomore guard Destinee Wells notched her first career double-double with 14 points and a career-high tying 10 assists, while senior forward Conley Chinn scored a season-high 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting.
For the fifth time this season five different Bruins reached double-figure scoring and sophomore forward Madison Bartley racked up a career-best seven blocks. Her seven swats representing the most in a single game by a Belmont player since Sally McCabe's eight versus Murray State on Jan. 17, 2018.
Assisting on 25 of 34 made field goals, the Bruins scored 44 points in the paint and led from the 4:22 mark of the first quarter on. For the third consecutive game Belmont knocked down 10 three-pointers as the Bruins went 10-for-19 from beyond the arc (52.6 percent).
Collecting its sixth road win of the season, Belmont improves to 12-7 overall and 8-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
The Bruins held the host Lady Tigers (11-11, 6-5 OVC) scoreless for the first two-and-a-half minutes of the game with Chinn accounting for Belmont's first four points of the evening. After an early 6-6 tie at the midway point of the opening quarter, the Bruins went on an impressive 18-0 run. Belmont scored the final 15 points of the quarter to take a 21-6 lead following the first 10 minutes of play.
Limiting Tennessee State to just three baskets through the first 11 minutes of action, the Bruins connected on eight of their first 13 shots. A free throw from freshman forward Tessa Miller gave Belmont its first 20-point lead of the contest at 28-8 and the Bruins led by 24 at the second quarter media timeout.
Closing the first half on a 7-0 run over the last four minutes of the second quarter, Belmont took a commanding 44-15 advantage into the break.
The Bruins shot 55.6 percent (15-of-27) in the first half and went 7-for-14 (50 percent) from distance while holding the Lady Tigers 23.3 percent (7-of-30) from the floor and 1-for-5 from deep.
A Wells layup put Belmont up 31 to begin the second half and the Bruins went on to score 22 points in the third quarter. Back-to-back treys from sophomore guard Tuti Jones and Wells made it 56-27 with four-and-a-half minutes to go in the third before Tennessee State ended the quarter on a 10-4 run. Shooting 47.4 percent (9-of-19) and going 2-for-2 from long range the Lady Tigers had their best quarter, but Belmont still headed into the fourth leading by 25 at 62-37.
With four-and-a-half minutes remaining Bartley capped a 10-0 run with a layup to give the Bruins a comfortable 34-point lead at 76-42. Belmont ended the game on a 19-4 run as Bartley scored the Bruins' last four points on a pair of low-post buckets in the final 90 seconds.
Belmont was nearly perfect in the fourth quarter, missing just one three-pointer on 11-for-12 shooting. The Bruins shot a remarkable 73.1 percent (19-of-26) in the second half and were 3-for-5 (60 percent) from three-point land.
Going 34-for-53 overall for the game, Belmont went 7-for-9 at the foul line and held a plus-11 margin on the glass (36-25). The Bruins kept Tennessee State to 31.7 percent (19-of-60) shooting and the Lady Tigers finished 3-for-9 from beyond the three-point line.
Forcing 20 turnovers, Belmont scored 24 points on Tennessee State's miscues.
Bartley flirted with her second double-double, scoring 19 points and securing a game-high eight rebounds to go along with her seven blocks. Jones reached 15 points and distributed four assists and freshman guard Kilyn McGuff added 10 points and six rebounds for her second-straight double-figure scoring game. Senior guard Jamilyn Kinney dished out a season-high six assists.
Lady Tiger guard Saniah Parker paced Tennessee State with 14 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists.
The win was the Bruins' 13th straight in the series.
Up Next
Belmont returns to game action Saturday at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee. Tipoff from the Eblen Center is slated for 5:30 p.m. with the conference road affair broadcast on ESPN+. On Monday, the Bruins head to the University of Tennessee at Martin for a 6 p.m. tilt.
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.
#ItsBruinTime
