Bruins Give Top-Five Stanford All It Can Handle

LAS VEGAS – Outside of the final four-and-a-half minutes, the Belmont University women's basketball team went toe-to-toe with one of the nation's top programs Wednesday afternoon inside The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada. The Bruins (2-3) held top-five ranked Stanford to a season-low point total in a 74-55 setback to begin play at the 2023 Ball Dawgs Classic in Las Vegas.
 
The final score not indicative of how tightly-contested the game was, Belmont held a lead early in the third quarter and trailed by a lone point after the first half of play.
 
Making an early impression on the Cardinal (5-0), who 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, the Bruins took a 6-4 lead less than two minutes in and led by two in the final two minutes of the first half.
 
Belmont limited Stanford to 38 percent (27-of-71) shooting, its lowest mark of the season, and outscored the Cardinal 34-26 in the paint. For the second consecutive game, the Bruins committed only 10 turnovers as the matchup saw only 17 combined offensive miscues.
 
Junior forward Tessa Miller scored a career-high 18 points and for the second-straight outing, redshirt junior guard Tuti Jones poured in 18 points and distributed a game-high five assists. Junior forward Kendal Cheesman tied her career high with a team-best 14 rebounds.
 
With 6-foot-4 All-American forward Cameron Brink, who led all with 27 points and 16 rebounds, Stanford earned a 52-33 advantage on the glass and scored 21 points off 20 offensive boards.
 
Jumpers from Jones and freshman standout guard Jailyn Banks put Belmont up 4-2 in the first 90 seconds before a Miller layup gave the Bruins their 6-4 lead. From there, the Cardinal went on a 14-3 run to build a nine-point, 18-9 lead with two minutes to go in the opening quarter.
 
Trailing 20-14 after one quarter of action, Belmont would be undeterred.
 
Another layup from Miller capped an 11-4 Bruin scoring run and made it a two-point game at 24-22 just under three minutes into the second quarter. A Jones jumper and a Miller basket got Belmont within a point at 27-26 with less than three minutes remaining in the half, before Jones knocked down a deep wing three-pointer to give the Bruins their first lead since the opening minutes.

??????@tutijones3 from deeeep for the LEAD on No. 4 Stanford!#ItsBruinTime | #Splashville pic.twitter.com/qwotFwZaZU

— Belmont WBasketball (@BelmontWBB) November 22, 2023

Stanford's Brooke Demetre responded with a three of her own to put the Cardinal back on top before the end of the half. Belmont trailed 32-31 at the break despite holding Stanford to only 34.2 percent (13-of-38) shooting. Jones led all scorers in the first half with 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting, including going 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. The Bruins outscored the Cardinal 17-12 in the second quarter.
 
The defensive intensity was turned up by both teams in the second half, but a reverse layup high off the glass by junior guar Kilyn McGuff 95 seconds in gave the lead back to Belmont at 33-32.

TOUGH Ki!!! ??#ItsBruinTime | #Splashville pic.twitter.com/HzpwkqkuQa

— Belmont WBasketball (@BelmontWBB) November 22, 2023

Even with Stanford putting together its largest run of the afternoon, a 9-0 spurt that gave the Cardinal a 41-33 advantage, the Bruins would not go away. Belmont outscored Stanford 13-10 across the last five minutes of the third quarter to remain within two possessions. A block by junior forward Carmyn Harrison led to a last-second layup by Banks at the third-quarter buzzer, getting the Bruins within five at 53-48.

DEFENSE ??@Jailynbanks3 right before the third-quarter buzzer! pic.twitter.com/KRb6Je2zNO

— Belmont WBasketball (@BelmontWBB) November 22, 2023

After being held scoreless for nearly the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, a layup from Miller ended Belmont's scoring drought. Moments later, Jones splashed in a wing three to once again make it a two-possession game at 59-53 with 4:43 left.
 
However, the Cardinal began to make shots and ended the game on a 15-2 run. A trio of triples by Talana Lepolo and Hannah Jump kept things out of reach for the Bruins.
 
Stanford outscored Belmont 21-7 in the final quarter behind 60 percent (9-of-15) shooting.
 
Miller finished 9-for-16 from the field as Banks also reached double-figure scoring with 10 points.
 
The Cardinal got 14 points and nine rebounds from starting forward Kiki Iriafen.

Of Note

• Belmont is 19-12 (.613) in neutral-site games under head coach Bart Brooks.
• The Bruins are 10-6 in neutral-site contests since the 2020-21 season.
• Belmont falls to 1-32 all-time versus nationally-ranked opponents in the Bruins' NCAA era.
• Under coach Brooks, Belmont is 3-6 in MTEs (multi-team events).
• Stanford improves to 2-0 all-time versus the Bruins.
• Belmont drops to 1-5 against current Pac-12 Conference programs.
• Miller has scored in double figures in all five games this season.

Up Next
The Bruins will take on the Big Ten Conference's Northwestern Friday at approximately 11 p.m. CT/9 p.m. PT. Belmont's second game at the Ball Dawgs Classic will be broadcast on FloHoops, a paid subscription is required.
 
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.