Bruins Visit Troy in Midweek Action

 
TROY, Ala. – Back in action in Central Standard Time, the Belmont University women's basketball team takes on Troy Wednesday evening in Alabama. The midweek road matchup is slated for 6 p.m. from Trojan Arena in Troy, Alabama.
 
Wednesday's non-conference tilt will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Dan Peck on the call. The game can also be heard on Belmont All-Access on BelmontBruins.com with Dr. Rich Tiner providing play-by-play of the action. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins (3-3) went 1-1 last week in Las Vegas at the 2023 Ball Dawgs Classic held at The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada.
• Playing in a prestigious MTE (multi-team event) for the second consecutive year, Belmont went toe-to-toe with top-five ranked Stanford for 35 minutes in its opening game at the Ball Dawgs Classic last Wednesday before defeating the Big Ten Conference's Northwestern in convincing fashion, 83-61, last Friday night.
• The Bruins were impressive in their win over the Wildcats Friday, putting together their most complete offensive performance. Five different Belmont players reached double-figure scoring for the first time since Feb. 24, 2022, with all five starters scoring at least 10 points. Shooting 53.6 percent (30-of-56) from the field, the Bruins went 10-for-20 from beyond the arc and were 13-of-15 (86.7 percent) at the free-throw line. Belmont outscored Northwestern 32-22 in the paint, held a plus-five rebounding margin (36-31) and scored 15 points off 10 Wildcat turnovers. The Bruins assisted on 18 of their made baskets.
• The win was Belmont's fifth over a power conference program in four seasons. In addition to a 76-50 rout of Georgia earlier in November, the Bruins have earned victories against Oregon, Ole Miss and Auburn in recent seasons.
• Last Friday night's win was just Belmont's third versus a current Big Ten team.
• All 12 available Bruins saw the court and 10 different Belmont players scored against Northwestern.
• Five of the Bruins' first six games of the season were against power conference programs. Belmont will see six total power conference teams in 2023-24.
• The Bruins also came within a point of defeating now 21st-ranked Mississippi State on Sunday, Nov. 19 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.
• A native of Troy, redshirt junior guard Tuti Jones starred at Charles Henderson High School, which is within eyesight of Trojan Arena and just across the street, where she was an all-state performer. Jones played for her mother, Dyneshia Jones-Elder, where the mother/daughter duo went a perfect 29-0 and won the Alabama Class 5A state championship Tuti's senior season in 2019-20. Jones-Elder, who played at Troy, retired as Charles Henderson's girl's head basketball coach this past April after leading the Lady Trojans for 25 years, posting 433 wins and claiming two state titles.
• After her true junior season was cut short due to injury last year, Jones returned for the season opener at the University of Missouri and has distributed at least four assists in each of the first six games. Averaging an impressive 5.3 assists per game, Jones recorded her second career double-double last Friday night versus the Wildcats with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists. Named to the Preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference Second Team, Jones was the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year and an All-OVC First Team selection as a sophomore in 2021-22.
• Junior forward Tessa Miller has scored in double figures in each of the first six games of the season. She totaled 13 points and eight rebounds against Northwestern after scoring a career-high 18 points on 9-for-16 shooting versus the now third-ranked Cardinal.
• Reaching double figures in all but one game thus far, Banks earned back-to-back MVC Freshman of the Week awards to begin the season. She is coming off a 14-point outing versus the Wildcats last Friday where she went 2-for-3 from three-point range. A native of Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Christian School), Banks tallied 23 points in the opener against the Tigers of Missouri, the fourth-most by any true freshman this season making her debut.
• Junior forward Kendal Cheesman pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds last Wednesday versus top-five ranked Stanford before scoring a game-high 21 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 4-for-7 from outside, in the win over Northwestern. She also earned seven boards and had a pair of blocks against the Wildcats while going 5-for-5 at the foul line. In her first career start, Cheesman erupted for a career-high 28 points on 9-for-15 three-point shooting and collected nine rebounds in the convincing home win over the Lady Bulldogs of Georgia. Her nine three-pointers are tied for 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 secure nine boards against a power conference team. For her performance, Cheesman was selected as Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week (Nov. 14).
• The Trojans are the sixth opponent on Belmont's schedule who had a winning record last year.
• The Bruins face a total of 14 opponents who had a winning record in 2022-23, while 10 adversaries won 20 or more games last season, 12 made a national postseason tournament last March and six reached the NCAA Tournament.
• Belmont takes on 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. 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 (1,060).

 
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 149-49 (.753) 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 appearance in 11 seasons with an at-large bid to the WNIT.

 
Versus Troy

• Wednesday evening will be the 18th all-time meeting between the two programs with the Bruins holding a 12-5 lead in the series.
• Belmont has gone 4-4 at Troy and has lost both of its last two road matchups with the Trojans.
• The Bruins are making their first trip to Troy since a 91-74 loss in Alabama on Nov. 16, 2016.
• The two teams spent four seasons together in the Atlantic Sun Conference from 2001-05 where Belmont went 5-3 against the Trojans, including a 53-49 win in the 2003 ASUN Tournament in Orlando, Florida.
• The Bruins' last victory at Troy came in January of 2004 when Belmont defeated the Trojans 65-59 in league play.
• The last two matchups in Nashville have been two of the highest scoring affairs in the Curb's 21-season history. Last December right before Christmas, the Bruins defeated Troy 98-87 in an overtime thriller. Behind graduate guard Sydni Harvey's dazzling three-point display, Belmont won the third-highest scoring women's basketball game in the Curb. Harvey nailed a program record 10 three-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points, finishing 10-for-12 from long range. Outscoring the Trojans 18-7 in overtime, the Bruins went 5-for-7 from the field and were 7-for-8 at the free-throw line in the extra period of play. Belmont overcame a six-point fourth-quarter deficit to close its non-conference schedule with a victory.
• On Nov. 29, 2015, the highest-scoring women's game in the Curb took place between the Bruins and Troy. Belmont defeated the Trojans 102-93 as both teams scored 30 points in the fourth quarter.

 
About the Trojans

• Led by 12th-year head coach Chanda Rigby, Troy is only two seasons removed from winning the 2021-22 Sun Belt Conference regular season championship.
• The Trojans are off to a 0-3 start and haven't played a game in 10 days since a 100-73 loss at 15th-ranked Tennessee on Nov. 19. Troy has also suffered home defeats to Samford (65-61) and Ball State (86-71).
• Picked second in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll, the Trojans earned a trio of first-place votes after going 12-6 in the conference last season and finishing in a three-way tie for fourth place.
• Troy went 17-13 overall last year.
• Senior 6-foot-2 forward Ja'Mia Hollings, a Preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team pick, leads the Trojans in scoring through three games with 17 points per contest. She is also averaging 8.3 rebounds per game, along with fellow Preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team selection Tai'Sheka Porchia. A senior 6-foot-1 forward, Porchia has posted 12.7 points per game through her first three outings of the season.
• Junior 5-foot-10 guard Shaulana Wagner, a junior college transfer from Wabash Valley College, is also averaging double-figure scoring (11.7 PPG) while co-leading the team in assists with junior 5-foot-5 guard Sharonica Hartsfield (5.3 APG).
• Senior 5-foot-3 guard Makayia Hallmon, an All-Sun Belt Second Team honoree last year, has yet to play this season.
• Both Hollings and Porchia were members of the 2022-23 All-Sun Belt Third Team.

 
Up Next
The Bruins return to the Music City this weekend, hosting Middle Tennessee Sunday afternoon. Tipoff from the Curb is set for 2 p.m. with the non-conference matchup broadcast on ESPN+. The game features two of the top programs in the state with the Lady Raiders receiving a vote in this week's Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25 Coaches Poll.
 
How to Follow
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