Women's Basketball Begins 2023-24 Campaign at Missouri Monday

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The 2023-24 basketball season is upon us, and Belmont University women's hoops begins its journey Monday morning at the University of Missouri. Tipoff from inside Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri, is set for 11:30 a.m.
 
The season opener will be broadcast on SEC Network+ with Nate Gatter (play-by-play) and Ben Arnet (analyst) serving as talent. Dr. Rich Tiner will have the call of the action on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeart Radio. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Annually playing one of the most challenging non-conference schedules in the nation, the Bruins open the season with three games against Southeastern Conference opponents in their first four outings. Following Monday's opener, Belmont hosts Georgia Friday and welcomes nationally-ranked Mississippi State to the Music City on Sunday, Nov. 19.
• The Bruins are opening the season at a power conference team for the first time since 2020-21 when they traveled to 11th-ranked Kentucky in a later than usual start due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
• Belmont has won three of its last four season openers over the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, including the last two years.
• The Bruins enter the season ranked 20th in CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25^®.
• Belmont was picked fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference 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.
• Missouri is the first of at least 14 opponents on the Bruins' schedule who had a winning record in 2022-23. The Tigers are also the first of no fewer than 12 teams Belmont will face this season who made a national postseason tournament last March.
• The Bruins will take on six power conference programs in 2023-24.
• Including Missouri, Belmont will see at no less than eight teams who ended last season ranked in the top 75 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) with five who finished within the top 35. The Tigers finished just outside the top 50 last year at No. 57. The Bruins ended 2022-23 ranked 84th in the NET.
• Entering his seventh season, 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 Belmont to a 146-46 (.760) 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.
• The Bruins return seven letter winners from their 2022-23 campaign with junior starters Kilyn McGuff (guard) and Tessa Miller (forward) both back, in addition to junior guard Tuti Jones who has started 62 of 63 games played over the last three seasons. Belmont also welcomes six newcomers this season, including talented freshmen guard Jailyn Banks and Kensley Feltner. Georgia Tech transfer forward Carmyn Harrison, junior college All-American guard Claire Hyde and Marquette transfer guard Emily La Chapell, along with junior guard Liz Suder, have joined the Bruins since mid-May.
• After her true junior season was cut short due to injury, Jones is set to return to the court and was chosen to the Preseason All-MVC 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.
• 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 (1,057).

 
Against the SEC

• The Bruins have picked up a road win at an SEC school two of the last three seasons with a 62-50 victory at receiving-votes Ole Miss in November of 2021 and a convincing 78-57 triumph at Auburn in December of 2020.
• Belmont is 20-44 all-time versus current SEC members and came within a ball bounce of defeating 18th-ranked and fourth-seeded Tennessee on the Lady Volunteers' home floor in the 2022 NCAA Tournament Round of 32. Coach Brooks is 3-8 against SEC opponents with wins over Ole Miss, Auburn and Vanderbilt.

 
Versus Missouri

• Monday will be only the second meeting between the two programs. Missouri won the first matchup 82-70 in Columbia on Dec. 16, 2013.

 
About the Tigers

• The Tigers went 18-14 last season and 6-10 in the SEC, finishing ninth in the league. Missouri also earned an at-large bid to the WNIT where they defeated MVC co-regular season champion Illinois State 61-51 at home in the opening round before bowing out to Kansas on the road.
• Led by 14th-year head coach Robin Pingeton, who is one of just 33 active Division I head coaches with 500-plus career wins, the Tigers were picked to finish 11th in the SEC by both the conference's head coaches and media members.
• Missouri returns six players from a season ago while featuring eight newcomers.
• Hayley Frank, a 6-foot-1 graduate forward, was named Preseason All-SEC First Team by the league's head coaches after garnering All-SEC Second Team honors last year. She averaged 15.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 2022-23.
• The Tigers also bring back 6-foot-1 sophomore guard Ashton Judd, who was a member of the 2022-23 SEC All-Freshman Team. In her inaugural collegiate season, she averaged 7.4 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 44.9 percent (31-of-69) from three-point range.
• Missouri hosts fellow MVC member Indiana State next Thursday and the Tigers also have a home date with Missouri State in early December.

 
Up Next
The Bruins begin a three-game homestand next Friday with the Lady Bulldogs of Georgia visiting the Curb Event Center. Tipoff of the home opener is set for 6:30 p.m. with the game broadcast on ESPN+. Georgia is receiving votes in the national coaches poll.
 
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
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.