Women's Basketball Returns; Belmont Travels to Kennesaw State Sunday

 
KENNESAW, Ga. – Following an 11-day break from game action, the Belmont University women's basketball team returns this weekend when the 6-3 Bruins travel to Kennesaw State for a Sunday afternoon matchup. Tipoff from the KSU Convocation Center in Kennesaw, Georgia, is slated for 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET.
 
Sunday's non-conference road tilt will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Jordan Griffitt (play-by-play) and Shanteona Keys (analyst) on the call. Jade Barkett will be reporting from the sideline. The game can also be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeart Radio with Dr. Rich Tiner providing play-by-play of the action. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Riding a four-game winning streak, Belmont makes its first road trip in the month of December.
• The Bruins are 1-1 in true road contests this season and are 2-2 away from the Music City.
• Belmont defeated Troy 72-68 on Nov. 29 for its first true road victory and earned an 83-61 neutral-site win over the Big Ten Conference's Northwestern at the Ball Dawgs Classic in Las Vegas during the week of Thanksgiving.
• The Bruins have held their last four opponents under 70 points, their last two opponents under 60 points and their last five opponents below 39 percent shooting.
• During its winning streak, Belmont is limiting its opponents to an average of 59.3 points and 35.5 percent shooting.
• Last time out on Wednesday, Dec. 6, the Bruins defeated nearby rival Lipscomb 70-51 at home in the 77th Battle of the Boulevard. It was Belmont's 14th consecutive victory in the rivalry series.
• The Bruins outscored the visiting Bisons 34-18 in the second half, holding Lipscomb to only seven made field goals and 25 percent shooting across the last two quarters. Belmont shot 52 percent from the floor and went 15-for-18 at the free-throw line. Four different Bruins reached double figures led by junior guard Kilyn McGuff's second career double-double of 13 points and a career-best 14 rebounds and freshman standout guard Jailyn Banks' team-high 16 points.
• Belmont's convincing win over the Wildcats of Northwestern at the Ball Dawgs Classic in the desert was the Bruins' second against a power conference program this season. In its home opener on Nov. 10, Belmont routed Southeastern Conference member Georgia 76-50 at the Curb Event Center. The Bruins have five victories over power conference teams in four seasons. In addition to Northwestern and the Lady Bulldogs, Belmont has earned wins against Oregon, Ole Miss and Auburn in recent years.
• 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 with top-15 ranked Ohio State next weekend.
• The Bruins also came within a point of defeating receiving-votes Mississippi State on Sunday, Nov. 19 inside the Curb. A free-throw line jumper by Banks and a putback attempt from McGuff both rimmed off in the final seconds.
• Averaging 15.8 points on 57.9 percent (22-of-38) shooting and 9.0 rebounds over her last four games, McGuff earned Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week honors for the first time of her career on Dec. 4. She has posted double-doubles in two of her last three outings.
• The reigning MVC Freshman of the Week, Banks has been selected for the Valley's weekly freshman award three times already this season. She's reached double-figure scoring in all but two games and has connected on four of her last six three-point attempts. A native of Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Christian School), Banks tallied 23 points in the opener at the University of Missouri, 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 for the season opener against the Tigers and has distributed at least four assists in seven of the first nine games of the season. Averaging a team-best 4.4 assists per game, Jones recorded her second career double-double against the Wildcats in Vegas with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists. The Troy, Alabama (Charles Henderson HS), native has tallied 186 career steals, which ranks among the top 10 in program history. In fact, Jones is third in Belmont's NCAA era in steals as she ranks behind only Erica Davenport (210) and Tara Montgomery (244). Named to the Preseason All-MVC 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 all but one game this season, including the first seven contests. Notching a career-high 18 points twice, Miller went 9-for-16 from the floor in the Bruins' battle with then top-five ranked Stanford at the Ball Dawgs Classic in Nevada. In Belmont's blowout of Georgia, Miller registered her fifth career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
• Fellow junior forward Kendal Cheesman pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds versus the top-five ranked Cardinal and scored a game-high 21 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including going 4-for-7 from distance, in the win over Northwestern inside The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada. 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. Her nine three-pointers are tied for the third-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).
• A total of 14 opponents on the Bruins' schedule 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.
• Four of Belmont's opponents thus far this season are ranked in the top 75 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), including No. 2 Stanford. The Bruins are currently 72nd in the NET.
• The Owls enter the weekend ranked 300 out of 360 teams in the NET.
• For the second consecutive week, Belmont is ranked 13th in 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 (1,063).

 
Under Coach Brooks

• In his seventh season at the helm, head coach Bart Brooks picked up his 150th win in less than 200 career games with the Bruins' victory at Troy on Nov. 29.
• Coach 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 152-49 (.756) 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

• The Bruins were 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 Belmont's first year in the conference in 2022-23. Going 23-12 overall and 17-3 in the Valley, the Bruins reached their third-straight conference tournament title game and made their 10th national postseason appearance in 11 seasons with an at-large bid to the WNIT.

 
Versus Kennesaw State

• Sunday represents the 15th all-time meeting between Belmont and Kennesaw State with the Bruins holding a 10-4 lead in the series.
• This weekend's matchup will be a meeting of former conference foes as both programs were in the Atlantic Sun Conference from 2005-12.
• The two teams met in the 2010 ASUN Tournament in Macon, Georgia, where Belmont prevailed in overtime, 70-65.
• The Bruins have won each of the last five games in the series, including the most recent matchup in 2012. Belmont defeated the host Owls 58-53 on Feb. 23, 2012, in Kennesaw.
• The Bruins are 5-2 versus Kennesaw State inside the KSU Convocation Center.

 
About the Owls

• Led by third-year head coach Octavia Blue, the Owls are off to a 3-5 start.
• Only one of Kennesaw State's three wins this season has come against a Division I opponent. The Owls defeated Florida Atlantic at home 57-43 on Nov. 25. Kennesaw State also owns victories over NAIA members College of Coastal Georgia (82-25) and Life University (62-45).
• Most recently, the Owls suffered a 91-50 loss at receiving-votes Mississippi State this past Monday.
• Kennesaw State began its campaign with a 98-51 setback at Vanderbilt in Nashville on Nov. 6.
• The Owls have held half of their eight opponents under 50 points with a narrow 49-43 home loss to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
• Picked to finish fifth in the ASUN in both the media and coaches preseason polls, Kennesaw State tied for sixth in the conference last season with a 10-8 league record. The Owls finished last year 15-16 overall.
• Kennesaw State is in its last season in the ASUN as the Owls will officially join Conference USA on July 1, 2024.
• Only two Kennesaw State players are averaging double-figure scoring, junior 5-foot-11 forward Prencis (11.6 PPG) and senior 5-foot-8 guard Carly Hooks (10.9 PPG).
• Junior 5-foot-9 guard Keyarah Berry is averaging 9.7 points per game, while senior 6-foot-3 forward/center Kyndall Golden leads the Owls in rebounding (6.3 RPG) primarily coming off the bench.

 
Up Next
Belmont travels to nationally-ranked Ohio State next Friday to cap its regular season non-conference slate. Visiting McGuff's hometown and taking on Kilyn's father's squad, the Bruins face the Buckeyes at 12 p.m. CT/1 p.m. ET inside Value City Arena at the Jermone Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network+, a 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.