Belmont Set to Face Top-Five Ranked Stanford in Las Vegas Wednesday

 
LAS VEGAS – Beginning play at the 2023 Ball Dawgs Classic in Las Vegas, the Belmont University women's basketball team faces top-five ranked Stanford Wednesday afternoon inside The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada. Tipoff of the neutral-site matchup is set for 3:30 p.m. CT/1:30 p.m. PT or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the 1 p.m. CT/11 a.m. PT game between 13th-ranked Florida State and Northwestern.
 
Both of the Bruins' games at the Ball Dawgs Classic will be broadcast on FloHoops with Kevaney Martin calling the action. A subscription to FloHoops is required, however, games can be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeart Radio for free with Dr. Rich Tiner providing play-by-play of the contests. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Following Wednesday's game with the nationally-ranked Cardinal, Belmont (2-2) will take on either top-15 ranked FSU or Northwestern Friday in Las Vegas.
• Five of the Bruins' first six games of the season are against power conference programs and Belmont will see six total power conference teams in 2023-24.
• This past Sunday, the Bruins came within a basket of defeating now top-25 ranked Mississippi State inside the Curb Event Center. A free-throw line jumper by freshman standout guard Jailyn Banks and a putback attempt from junior guard Kilyn McGuff both rimmed off in the final seconds of a 63-62 loss.
• Belmont nearly went 2-1 against the Southeastern Conference as the Bruins routed the University of Georgia 76-50 in their home opener on Friday, Nov. 10. In its season opener, Belmont dropped a 72-61 decision at the University of Missouri.
• The Bruins have earned four wins over power conference teams in four seasons – Georgia, Oregon, Ole Miss and Auburn.
• Belmont trailed by as much as 11 in the second quarter against Mississippi State but clawed its way back in the second half. Despite being outrebounded 44-25 and outscored 42-30 in the paint, the Bruins found a way to put themselves in position for a potential game winner. Leading for only 1:42 of the game, Belmont took its first advantage with 3:07 remaining.
• Led by redshirt junior guard Tuti Jones' 18 points, four different Bruins reached double figures against the Bulldogs Sunday afternoon for the first time of the season. Banks poured in 13 points and junior forward Tessa Miller had 12, while fellow junior forward Kendal Cheesman went 3-for-3 from outside and 4-for-4 overall for 11 points.
• After her true junior season was cut short due to injury last year, Jones returned for the season opener against the Tigers and has distributed at least four assists in each of the first four games. She dished out a game-high five assists versus Mississippi State to go along with her game-best 18 points. Named to the Preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference Second Team, 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.
• All 13 of Banks' points Sunday against the Bulldogs came in the second half and she knocked down eight free throws. After averaging 15 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and a steal last week, Banks was named MVC Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week to begin her collegiate career. Helping lead Belmont to a 75-67 home win over Wichita State last Wednesday night, Banks scored a game-high tying 17 points, grabbed six boards and recorded a game-best five assists. The Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Chirstian School), native tallied 23 points in the opener at Missouri, the fourth-most by any true freshman this season making her debut.
• Miller has scored in double figures in each of the first four games of the season, including posting a game-high tying 17 points in last Wednesday's win against the Shockers. She went 5-for-8 from the field and was a perfect 7-for-7 at the free-throw line versus Wichita State before going 6-for-9 from the floor Sunday in the tussle with Mississippi State. For the season, Miller is shooting 62.5 percent.
• Cheesman erupted for a career-high 28 points on 9-for-15 three-point shooting in the convincing home win over the Lady Bulldogs of Georgia, while also collecting nine rebounds in her first career start. Her nine three-point baskets are the second-most by a NCAA Division I women's basketball player in a game thus far this season and were just one shy of both the single-game program and Curb Event Center record. The Tampa, Florida (H.B. Plant HS), native became the first player since at least 2009-10 to make nine threes and grab nine boards against a power conference team. For her performance, Cheesman was selected as Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week last week.
• The Cardinal is the fifth of at least 14 opponents on the Bruins' schedule who had a winning record in 2022-23. Stanford is the third of no less than 10 adversaries who won 20 or more games last year, the fifth of no fewer than 12 teams who made a national postseason tournament last March and the third of no worse than six NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago.
• Including the Cardinal, Belmont faces at least eight programs this year who ended last season ranked in the top 75 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) with five who finished within the top 35. Stanford is the highest of such teams, finishing fourth. The Bruins ended 2022-23 ranked 84th in the NET.
• Belmont is ranked 16th in this week's CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25^®.
• The Bruins won their sixth regular season conference championship in seven seasons last year. Belmont has captured nine regular season conference titles in the Bruins' NCAA era. Including the regular season and league tournament, Belmont has won 16 combined conference championships in three different Division I conferences (MVC, OVC and Atlantic Sun Conference).
• The Bruins are one of only 11 teams in the nation to have won 20 or more games for eight-straight seasons.
• Belmont (11) is 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 (1,059).

 
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 148-48 (.755) 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 gained 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 in MTEs

• The Bruins are making their return to Las Vegas after defeating receiving-votes Gonzaga and Florida Gulf Coast at the 2017 Play4Kay Showcase, which was held at Michelob ULTRA Arena - Mandalay Bay, in coach Brooks' first year.
• It marks the second-straight year Belmont has competed in a prestigious MTE (multi-team event) as the Bruins played in the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Florida, last November where they took on top-25 ranked Villanova, Sait Louis and Atlantic Coast Conference member Georgia Tech.
• Under Brooks, Belmont is 3-5 in MTEs.

 
Belmont at Neutral Sites

• The Bruins are 19-11 (.633) in neutral-site games under Brooks' leadership.
• Belmont has gone 10-5 in neutral-site affairs over the last three seasons.

 
Against the Top 25

• The Bruins are 1-31 all-time versus nationally-ranked opponents in Belmont's NCAA era.
• The Bruins' lone victory against a top-25 team came in the 2021 NCAA Tournament when Belmont ousted 14th-ranked and fifth-seeded Gonzaga 64-59 in the first round.
• The Cardinal is ranked fourth in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll and third in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25 Coaches Poll. Stanford represents the highest ranked opponent the Bruins have faced since traveling to fourth-ranked Iowa last November.

 
Against the Pac-12

• Belmont is 1-4 all-time against current Pac-12 Conference programs. However, the Bruins' last meeting with a Pac-12 team resulted in a win.
• As a No. 12 seed, Belmont upended fifth-seeded Oregon 73-70 in the 2022 NCAA Tournament First Round inside Tompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 19, 2022.
• Other Pac-12 programs the Bruins have taken on are California, Oregon State and UCLA.

 
Versus Stanford

• Wednesday afternoon will be the second meeting between the two programs with the first matchup in the series also taking place in Las Vegas at the 2017 Play4Kay Showcase.
• The then 14th-ranked Cardinal defeated Belmont 74-53.
• Center Sally McCabe ('18), now in her second season as the Bruins' director of basketball operations, started against Stanford as a senior and had a pair of blocks.

 
About the Cardinal

• In her 38th season, Cardinal head coach Tara VanDerveer is the all-time winningest coach in women's college basketball. Both a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2011) and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (2002) member, VanDerveer has won 1,190 games as a head coach. She owns a record of 1,038-214 (.829) as Stanford's leader.
• The Cardinal is a three-time national champion, winning NCAA titles in 1990, 1992 and most recently in 2021 over Arizona. Stanford was also a national runner-up in 2008 and 2010.
• Off to a 4-0 start, the Cardinal has yet to play away from home. Stanford has defeated Hawai'i (87-40), ninth-ranked Indiana (96-64), Cal Poly (86-32) and Duke (82-79, OT) in California.
• On Sunday, the Cardinal squeaked past the Blue Devils thanks to senior forward Cameron Brink's free throws with 11 seconds left.
• Picked third by both the media and coaches in the preseason Pac-12 polls, Stanford was a No. 1 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament. However, the Cardinal was upset in the Round of 32 by eighth-seeded Ole Miss. It was the earliest exit for Stanford in the NCAA Tournament since 2007.
• The Cardinal went 29-6 overall in 2022-23 and was 15-3 in Pac-12 play, sharing the regular season title with Utah.
• The reigning WBCA Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time All-American, 6-foot-4 Brink was named Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Tuesday. She scored a career-high 29 points, including eight of Stanford's 11 points in overtime, secured 11 rebounds and made six blocks in the Cardinal's win over Duke Sunday.
• Junior 6-foot-3 forward Kiki Iriafen is averaging 20.8 points on 68 percent shooting through four games, not to mention 9.3 rebounds. She has scored at least 20 points in three of Stanford's first four games and notched back-to-back double-doubles to begin the season.
• All-Pac-12 performer Hannah Jump, a 6-foot graduate guard, was named Preseason All-Pac-12 along with Brink.
• Brink leads the Cardinal in rebounding (10.3 RPG) and is averaging 16.3 points in her first four outings of the season.

 
Up Next
Belmont's second game at the Ball Dawgs Classic Friday will either be at 8:30 p.m. CT/6:30 p.m. PT for the tournament championship or at 11 p.m. CT/9 p.m. PT in the consolation matchup. Both games will be broadcast on FloHoops.
 
How to Follow
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.