Bruins Welcome Wichita State to the Curb Wednesday Night

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Fresh off a dominant, 26-point win over the Southeastern Conference's Georgia, the Belmont University women's basketball team returns to game action Wednesday night inside the Curb Event Center against Wichita State. Tipoff from the Music City is slated for 6:30 p.m.
 
The non-conference matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Dr. Rich Tiner (play-by-play) and former Bruin guard Hannah Harmeyer (analyst) calling the game. Landen Secrest will be reporting from the sideline. The game can also be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeart Radio. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• In the middle of a three-game homestand, Belmont (1-1) goes for its second consecutive victory after routing the visiting Lady Bulldogs 76-50 Friday night.
• Facing an SEC opponent in three of their first four games of the season, the Bruins earned their third win over an SEC program in four seasons Friday against Georgia.
• Junior forward Kendal Cheesman erupted for a career-high 28 points on 9-for-15 three-point shooting versus the Lady Bulldogs, while also collecting nine rebounds. Her nine three-point baskets are the most by a NCAA Division I women's basketball player in a game thus far this season and are just one shy of both the single-game program and Curb Event Center record. For her performance, Cheesman was selected as Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week Tuesday.
• Fellow junior forward Tessa Miller registered her fifth career double-double in the win over Georgia with a career-high 17 points and 11 boards.
• Belmont connected on 13 three-pointers in Friday's triumph, including eight of its nine first-half field goals being from distance, and assisted on 16 of its 21 buckets. The Bruins outrebounded the Lady Bulldogs 42-33 and scored 17 points on 15 offensive boards.
• Georgia entered last Friday's game receiving votes in the preseason national coaches poll.
• The Shockers are the third of at least 14 opponents on Belmont's schedule who had a winning record in 2022-23 and the third of no fewer than 12 teams who made a national postseason tournament last March.
• In her first two collegiate games last week, freshman guard Jailyn Banks averaged 16 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists. For her outstanding play, she was named Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week. In the win over the Lady Bulldogs Friday, Banks scored nine points and dished out a game-high tying five assists while pulling down five rebounds and making a steal. The Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Chirstian School), native's 23 points at the University of Missouri last Monday in the season opener were the fourth-most by any true freshman this season making her debut.
• After her true junior season was cut short due to injury last year, guard Tuti Jones returned last Monday and scored nine points Friday against Georgia. She was selected to the Preseason All-MVC Second Team and has distributed four assists in both of her first two games. The Troy, Alabama (Charles Henderson HS), native was the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year and an All-OVC First Team selection as a sophomore in 2021-22.
• The Bruins are ranked 15th in CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25^®, moving up five spots from the preseason poll.
• Belmont won its sixth regular season conference championship in seven seasons last year. The Bruins have captured nine regular season conference titles in Belmont's NCAA era. Including the regular season and league tournament, the Bruins have won 16 combined conference championships in three different Division I conferences (MVC, OVC and Atlantic Sun Conference).
• Belmont is one of only 11 teams in the nation to have won 20 or more games for eight-straight seasons.
• The Bruins (11) are one of only three programs to have won more than 10 combined conference championships (regular season and tournament) over the last seven seasons. UConn (14) and Florida Gulf Coast (12) are the other two.
• Belmont is the only school in the nation to win 20-plus games for eight consecutive seasons in both women's and men's basketball.
• The Bruins have either been ranked or received votes in at least one of the two major national polls each of the last eight seasons.
• Belmont has won the 17th-most games in NCAA Division I women's basketball history (1,058).

 
Under Coach Brooks

• In his seventh season at the helm, head coach Bart Brooks was named to the preseason watch list for the 2024 Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats. Since his arrival in Nashville, he has led the Bruins to a 147-47 (.758) record, four NCAA Tournaments and back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 in 2021 and 2022. The third-fastest head coach to 100 career victories in Division I women's basketball history, Brooks owns an astounding record of 111-14 (.888) against conference opponents, including conference tournament games. He ranks among the top 10 of active Division I head coaches in terms of winning percentage.

 
MVC Preseason Poll

• Belmont was picked fourth in the MVC but picked up one first-place vote in the preseason predicted order of finish after capturing a regular season championship in the Bruins' first year in the conference in 2022-23. Going 23-12 overall and 17-3 in the Valley, Belmont reached its third-straight conference tournament title game and made its 10th national postseason tournament in 11 seasons with an at-large bid to the WNIT.

 
Bruins at Home

• The Bruins are 90-12 (.882) at home since the start of the 2015-16 season.
• Belmont has a home winning percentage of .743 (188-65) inside the Curb since the arena was opened prior to the 2003-04 season.
• Under coach Brooks, the Bruins are an exceptional 66-11 (.857) inside the Curb.

 
Against The American

• Belmont is 15-13 all-time versus current American Athletic Conference members.
• The Bruins' last game against a current American Athletic Conference program was Nov. 12, 2018, when Belmont cruised to a 78-53 home win over Tulsa.
• Two seasons ago, the Bruins traveled to UCF while the Knights were members of The American. However, UCF has since joined the Big 12 Conference.

 
Versus Wichita State

• Wednesday night will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

 
About the Shockers

• Led by first-year head coach Terry Nooner, Wichita State is coming off an 18-15 year that saw the Shockers reach the WNIT. Wichita State went 6-10 in The American last season but reached the conference tournament semifinals after upsetting top-seeded South Florida in the quarterfinals.
• The Shockers were picked to finish 11th out of 14 teams in The American this year according to the league's preseason coaches' poll.
• Wichita State began its season with a 92-68 loss at top-25 ranked Oklahoma before collecting a 60-41 home victory over Presbyterian College last Wednesday.
• Both 5-foot-7 redshirt senior guard Tre'Zure Jobe (14.5 PPG) and 5-foot-8 senior guard DJ McCarty (13.0 PPG) are averaging double-figure scoring through the first two games of the season. McCarty has accounted for 10 of the Shockers' 20 made free throws as she is 10-for-11 at the foul line. Against the nationally-ranked Sooners in the season opener, McCarty scored 19 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
• Wichita State was a member of the MVC until the 2017-18 season. The Shockers won three-straight Valley regular season and tournament titles from 2013-15.
• Wichita State Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Operations and Chief Revenue Officer Scott Barnhart is a former Belmont golfer (2012-16). He graduated in 2016 with his bachelor's degree in accounting and finance before serving as a graduate assistant coach for the men's golf program. Barnhart completed his master's degree in accountancy at Belmont in 2018.

 
Up Next
The Bruins close out their three-game homestand Sunday afternoon with Mississippi State, who is receiving 51 votes in this week's Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll and 50 votes in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25 Coaches Poll. Tipoff at the Curb is set for 2 p.m. and the marquee game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
Belmont Basketball Ticket Information
Both single game and season tickets are on sale now. Season tickets are only $199 per seat and include all women's and men's basketball home games.
 
View available seating and purchase your seats.
 
Flex pack plans for the 2023-24 season area also on sale and can be purchased here.
 
For more information, call 615-460-BALL or visit BelmontBruins.com/Tickets.
 
How to Follow
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