Bruins Earn First MVC Road Victory, Defeat Northern Iowa 67-61 Sunday

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Late-game baskets from Destinee Wells, Sydni Harvey and Kilyn McGuff finished a gritty road performance Sunday afternoon by the Belmont University women's basketball team at Northern Iowa as the Bruins earned a 67-61 victory at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Behind inspired defensive play, Belmont (7-8, 3-1 MVC) claimed its first-ever Missouri Valley Conference road win and handed the host Panthers (8-5, 3-1 MVC) their first league loss of the season.
 
Northern Iowa was the lone remaining unbeaten team in MVC play prior to the Bruins' win Sunday.

Junior guard Wells drained a deep two with just under two minutes remaining to even the score at 61 apiece and following a Panther turnover, graduate guard Harvey nailed a three-pointer to put Belmont in front for good. Sophomore guard McGuff then capped the road triumph with an and-one bucket in the final 25 seconds.

The Bruins forced a pair of Northern Iowa turnovers and Wells came up with a block on a three-point closeout in the final two minutes after Belmont knotted the game at 61. The last three defensive sequences highlighted the Bruins' effort for the entire afternoon.

Balanced on its offensive attack, Belmont held the Panthers to 31 percent (18-of-58) shooting including 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from beyond the arc. The Bruins forced 17 Northern Iowa turnovers and limited the third-leading scorer in the MVC and the leading rebounder in the conference, forward Grace Boffeli, to nine points and five boards.

Shooting over 50 percent from the field in the first and fourth quarters, Belmont got 23 points off the bench with major contributions from junior forward Madison Bartley and freshman guard Brooke Highmark. The Bruins outscored the Panthers 28-22 in the paint despite being outrebounded 41-35, including 15-9 on the offensive glass.

Leading for the majority of the contest, Belmont overcame a 10-2 deficit four minutes in. A three by Northern Iowa's Emerson Green gave the hosts a 13-7 lead with four-and-a-half minutes left in the opening quarter before the Bruins closed the first on an 11-3 scoring run. A three-point play from Highmark ignited the lengthy run and Wells knocked down a triple to put Belmont up 18-16 at the end of the quarter.

Both teams went 3-for-5 from outside the arc in the first quarter as the Bruins started 7-for-13 from the floor.
 
Five consecutive points from Bartley gave Belmont a seven-point lead 90 seconds into the second quarter and the Bruins would go on to hold the Panthers without a field goal for the last seven-and-a-half minutes of the half. Ending the first half on an 11-2 run, Belmont outscored Northern Iowa 16-7 in the second quarter.

Junior guard Blair Schoenwald connected on a triple in the closing minute of the half and senior guard Nikki Baird got a floater to go right before the halftime horn following an offensive rebound by sophomore forward Kendal Cheesman. Leading 34-23 at the break, the Bruins allowed just two made Panther baskets in the second quarter.

Across the initial 20 minutes of play, Belmont shot 43.3 percent (13-of-30) and went 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) from long range. Northern Iowa was held to 24.1 percent (7-of-29) shooting, including 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from outside, in the first half.

After scoring eight points in just over four minutes on the court in the second quarter, Bartley tied the Bruins' largest lead of the day at 11 with a layup making it 36-25 early in the second half. A Wells jumper kept Belmont in front by 10 at 40-30 nearly midway through the third quarter and the Bruins held a nine-point, 51-42 lead heading into the fourth despite being outscored 19-17 in the period.

Baird scored on a beautiful backdoor cut pass from sophomore forward Tessa Miller as Belmont continued to lead by nine at 55-46 with just under eight minutes left. The Panthers then began their late-game push.

Northern Iowa's Maya McDermott hit a three-pointer to cap an 8-0 run, drawing the Panthers within a point at 55-54 with a little under six minutes to go. Bartley and Wells answered, halting Northern Iowa's run and giving the Bruins some breathing room at 59-54 with four minutes left.

Six-straight points by the Panthers' Green, including a go-ahead three, gave the home team their first lead since the first quarter at 60-59 with three minutes remaining. Keeping Belmont scoreless for over a two-minute stretch, Northern Iowa went up 61-59 on a McDermott free throw with 1:58 on the clock.

Wells and the Bruins quickly responded in a big way and ended the game on an 8-0 run to get the road victory.

Belmont shot 58.3 percent (7-of-12) in the fourth quarter and was 14-for-31 (45.2 percent) from the field in the second half. Shooting 37.9 percent (11-of-29) from the floor and going 3-for-9 from distance, including 3-for-6 from three-point range in the fourth, the Panthers went 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) at the free-throw line in the second half.

Altogether, the Bruins shot 44.3 percent (27-of-61) for the afternoon and cashed in on eight of 23 three-point attempts (34.8 percent).
 
Northern Iowa made 18 of 26 (69.2 percent) free throws.

Both McGuff and Bartley finished with 14 points and Wells scored 12 to go along with six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Baird added seven points and tied her career high with eight boards while McGuff grabbed seven rebounds. Harvey had nine points.

McDermott led the Panthers with 19 points and Emerson scored 17 on 3-for-4 shooting from outside. Northern Iowa's Cynthia Wolf led all rebounders with nine.

Of Note
Belmont recovers from its worst conference loss since January 2011 (ASUN) following the Bruins' 31-point setback at Drake Friday evening (94-63). The win is the Bruins' first in the Hawkeye State as Belmont has made only two trips to Iowa, both coming this season. Including Belmont, there are six teams who sit at 3-1 in the 12-team MVC following the second week of league action. Sunday's meeting with the Panthers was the first matchup between the two teams.
 
Up Next
The Bruins complete their three-game road stretch at familiar conference foe Murray State Wednesday evening. Tipoff from the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky, is slated for 6 p.m. with the game broadcast on ESPN+. Next Sunday, Belmont hosts Illinois State at the Curb Event Center.
 
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