Women's Basketball Begins Weekend with Missouri State at the Curb

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Returning to game action, the Belmont University women's basketball team begins its two-game weekend in the Music City with Missouri State visiting the Curb Event Center Friday evening. Tipoff of the Missouri Valley Conference matchup of the week is set for 6:30 p.m.
 
The weekend opener will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Brad Wells (play-by-play) and Kelly Burke (analyst) serving as commentators. Dr. Rich Tiner (play-by-play), former Bruin guard Jenny Bream (Roy) (analyst) and Hanley Riggs (sideline) will have the call of the action on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeart Radio. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
Free Belmont replica jerseys will be given out to fans Friday on a first come, first serve basis.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins (7-10, 3-3 MVC) are looking to halt a two-game skid after dropping three of their last four contests.
• Belmont began MVC play 2-0, its sixth 2-0 league start in 11 seasons.
• Last Sunday afternoon, the Bruins ran into a hot three-point shooting Illinois State squad who handed Belmont a 70-56 loss at the Curb.
• For the fifth-straight outing, the Bruins will face a team who earned a national postseason berth last season as Belmont takes on its seventh opponent who reached last year's NCAA Tournament.
• Twelve of the Bruins' first 17 opponents this season won no fewer than 19 games a year ago and reached a national postseason tournament.
• Since 2012-13, Belmont has compiled a remarkable 143-32 (.817) record in conference play and won 11 combined championships, including regular season and tournament titles.
• Head coach Bart Brooks is an astounding 83-12 (.874) in league action over his six seasons guiding the Bruins.
• Limited to only four first-quarter points, Belmont trailed the visiting Redbirds by 20 at halftime and could not overcome its slow start in the Bruins' first MVC home loss last Sunday. Belmont outscored Illinois State 40-34 in the second half behind 20 points from junior guard Destinee Wells and 13 points and six rebounds from junior forward Madison Bartley. Trailing 36-16 at the break, the Bruins scored 13 points off nine Redbird turnovers in the second half and outworked Illinois State 22-10 in the paint. Belmont held the Redbirds to under 40 percent shooting in the second 20 minutes of play after Illinois State shot 56.5 percent in the first half, including going 6-for-11 from beyond the arc. Tied atop of the 12-team MVC, the Redbirds held the Bruins to 23.1 percent shooting in the first half and Belmont started 1-for-8 from long range. Getting within 12 twice in the fourth quarter, the Bruins came up with a season-high 10 steals but couldn't put together a sustained scoring run. Wells led Belmont with 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting and distributed a game-high five assists. Bartley finished with 15 points and sophomore guard Kilyn McGuff recorded 11 points, six rebounds and a season-high three steals.
• The Bruins are 106-25 (.809) inside the Curb since the start of the 2012-13 season. Coach Brooks has led Belmont to an outstanding 58-11 (.841) record at home since taking over the reins of the program in April of 2017.
• In conference play, the Bruins have been even more dominant at home going 76-11 (.874) since 2012. In his six seasons, coach Brooks has lost only five league games at the Curb with a 42-5 (.894) record.
• On Wednesday, Wells was named to the midseason watch list for the 2023 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats. One of only 15 players nationally in contention for the player of the year award, Wells has reached double-figure scoring in all but four games. Through 17 games, Wells is averaging 16.1 points, 4.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds per contest. She ranks fourth in the MVC in scoring and fifth in assists as the only player in the league averaging over 16 points and four assists.
• Despite its 7-10 record, Belmont sits just outside the top 100 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings at No. 108 as the fifth-highest ranked MVC team. Missouri State is slightly below the Bruins in the NET, entering the weekend ranked 126th.
• Belmont's non-conference strength of schedule is ranked as the 17th-most difficult in the nation. Furthermore, the Bruins' average opponent NET ranking (No. 100) is the 12th-highest in the country.
• Belmont has faced a trio of teams ranked in the top 25 of the NET – No. 10 Iowa (Nov. 20), No. 18 Middle Tennessee (Nov. 16) and No. 24 Villanova (Nov. 25). In fact, the Bruins have taken on 10 teams ranked in the top 100 of the NET, including No. 28 Louisville (Nov. 13), No. 50 Drake (Jan. 6), No. 52 Georgia (Dec. 17), No. 67 Northern Iowa (Jan. 8), No. 81 Georgia Tech (Nov. 27 and Dec. 4), No. 89 Murray State (Jan. 11) and No. 98 Illinois State (Jan. 15).
• Seven of Belmont's 10 non-conference opponents this season won over 20 games last year and earned a national postseason tournament bid.
• A total of 13 opponents on the Bruins' schedule reached a national postseason tournament last March, including seven who made the NCAA Tournament, and 12 won at least 20 games last season. The Lady Bears are one of such opponents. Missouri State went 25-8 in 2021-22 and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where it won a First Four game against 11th-seeded Florida State.
• With a challenging four-game stretch from Nov. 13-25, Belmont has taken on three nationally-ranked teams. Louisville was ranked seventh in the nation when the Cardinals visited Nashville on Nov. 13 and the Bruins traveled to now receiving-votes Middle Tennessee just three days later before heading to fourth-ranked Iowa on Nov. 20. On Friday, Nov. 25 in Estero, Florida, at the Gulf Coast Showcase, Belmont battled then 23rd-ranked Villanova in a high-scoring 83-80 setback.
• Friday evening will be the first-ever meeting between the Bruins and the Lady Bears.
• Recording her second career double-double on Jan. 1 in the 72-59 home win over the University of Illinois Chicago with 18 points and 10 rebounds, both of Bartley's double-doubles have been achieved on New Year's Day. She began 2022 with 21 points and 14 rebounds in a road victory at Eastern Illinois.
• Graduate guard Sydni Harvey garnered MVC Player and Newcomer of the Week accolades following Christmas weekend for her sensational shooting display and 33-point outing in Belmont's thrilling 98-87 overtime victory over Troy on Dec. 20. She recorded the first 30-point game by a Bruin since March 6, 2021, when Wells scored 32 in the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship game versus UT Martin. Harvey's program record 10 three-pointers were the second-most ever by a MVC player in a game and she became the first NCAA Division I women's basketball player to hit 10 threes in a contest this season. Her 10th trey 78 seconds into overtime put Belmont up 87-82 as she tied the Curb record for made triples in a game. Harvey also became the first Valley player to make 10 threes in a contest since Drake's Kyndal Clark did so versus Loyola Chicago on Jan. 24, 2014. Prior to Harvey's 10-for-12 shooting from outside, the last Division I women's player to make 10 three-pointers on 12 or fewer attempts was Marshall's Taylor Porter, who also went 10-for-12 from deep on March 7, 2019, against Florida International University. The Nashville, Tennessee (Brentwood Academy), native went 3-for-4 at the free-throw line and added a pair of rebounds in the home win over the Trojans. Harvey's 40.2 three-point percentage and 37 made treys on the season are both among MVC leaders.
• With 21 boards against Troy, sophomore forward Tessa Miller registered the Bruins' first 20-rebound performance since Ellie Harmeyer notched 20 versus the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Nov. 6, 2019. Her 21 rebounds were just three off the single-game program record of 24.
• Along with 24 points and a season-high nine assists, Wells added a trio of rebounds and a pair of steals in Belmont's non-conference finale win over the Trojans. She became the first MVC player since 2016 to total 24 points, nine assists and two steals in a game. The Lakeland, Tennessee (Houston HS), native also became the first MVC player since 2012 to tally 24 points, nine assists and two steals while making two or more three-pointers (2-of-5). Wells' 24-point, nine-assist, two-steal performance was only the ninth in the nation this season – three of the first eight such outings were accomplished by Iowa's Caitlin Clark, the reigning Big Ten Conference Player of the Year. With her 25-point output against UIC, Wells became the third Bruin since 2009-10 to score 25-plus points in 10 or more career games, joining Kylee Smith (12) and Ellie Harmeyer (11).
• Four different Belmont players have posted multiple 20-point performances this season with Wells leading the way (7), followed by McGuff, Harvey and Bartley with two 20-point games apiece.
• Wells has been held under double figures in consecutive games just once in her impressive career, finishing with nine points at then No. 4 Iowa on Nov. 20 after scoring five at now receiving-votes Middle Tennessee on Nov. 16.
• Following the first week of the season, Wells was tabbed MVC Player of the Week after a pair of 20-point home showings against 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 the Bruins in front of the nationally-ranked Cardinals with only 2:17 remaining. The star guard became Belmont's 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 1,238 points and registered 327 assists in only 73 career games. She has reached double-figure scoring in all but six of her last 62 games and 64 total career outings. Wells owns 27 20-point games and was tabbed MVC Preseason Player of the Year in the Bruins' first year in the league.
• Between Harvey, who scored 1,142 points at South Florida and has accounted for 1,312 career points, and Wells, Belmont has two career 1,000-point scorers.
• The Bruins 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. Belmont 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, the Bruins began the season ranked No. 6 in the nation in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25^®.
• Entering its first season in the MVC, Belmont was picked to win the conference after a vote of the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media members. The Bruins 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, 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 program 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.
• Belmont owns the 17th-most victories in NCAA Division I women's basketball history (1,041).
• 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 130-44 (.747) record and eight combined conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles.

About the Lady Bears

• Led by first-year head coach Beth Cunningham, Missouri State is off to a 9-6 start. At 4-2 in league play, the Lady Bears are tied for fourth place in the MVC standings with Murray State.
• Despite finishing as runner-up in last year's regular season conference race and getting bounced by third-seeded Northern Iowa in the 2022 MVC Tournament semifinals, Missouri State put together a strong non-conference résumé with a trio of victories over power conference programs (USC, No. 24 Virginia Tech, Missouri). The Lady Bears earned an at-large berth to the Big Dance and took sixth-seeded Ohio State late into the fourth quarter in the first round after defeating Florida State in the First Four.
• During this season's non-conference schedule, Missouri State claimed a 63-59 win at TCU (Dec. 9). The Lady Bears had one common opponent with Belmont before getting into MVC play, suffering a 79-54 loss to Middle Tennessee on Nov. 26 at the Las Vegas Invitational.
• Missouri State is 3-2 in true road games this season with its two losses in conference play coming at home to Illinois State (67-63) and at Valparaiso (77-68) this past Saturday. The Beacons' win over the Lady Bears last weekend snapped an 11-game losing streak.
• Returning only one starter from last year's NCAA Tournament squad, Missouri State was picked to finish sixth in MVC during the preseason.
• The Lady Bears are one of the top rebounding teams in the nation, ranking 16th nationally in rebounds per contest (43.3). Furthermore, Missouri State leads the conference and is ranked sixth in the country in offensive boards per outing (17.3).
• Senior 5-foot-7 guard Aniya Thomas, a transfer from Kansas, leads the Lady Bears in scoring (13.7 PPG) and is second in the league in assists (4.9 APG).
• Both sophomore 6-foot-3 forward Taylor Kennedy (11.7 PPG/8.1 RPG), a Colorado transfer, and sophomore 5-foot-11 forward Indya Green (8.1 PPG/8.3 RPG) are averaging near double-doubles.
• Senior 5-foot-11 guard Sydney Wilson is also averaging double-figure scoring at 11.2 points per game.

Up Next
The Bruins close out their three-game homestand Sunday versus defending MVC regular season champion Southern Illinois. Tipoff from the Curb is slated for 2 p.m. with the game broadcast on ESPN+. Next weekend, Belmont travels to Indiana State and Evansville.
 
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