Bruins Begin Missouri Valley Conference Action Saturday at the Curb

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Beginning its quest for another regular season conference championship, the Belmont University women's basketball team welcomes the University of Illinois Chicago to the Curb Event Center Saturday afternoon. Tipoff of the Missouri Valley Conference opener is slated for 4 p.m. from the Music City.
 
Saturday's holiday hoops matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Dr. Rich Tiner (play-by-play) and former Bruin forward Ellie Harmeyer Strutz ('20) (analyst) on the call. Landen Secrest will be reporting from the sideline. The game can also be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeart Radio. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Belmont enters its second season of play in the MVC after winning a regular season title in its first year in the Valley.
• The Bruins have won seven consecutive conference openers and are an unblemished 6-0 in league openers under head coach Bart Brooks.
• Last December, Belmont began its championship MVC campaign with a 74-60 home win over Valparaiso.
• Once again playing one of the most strenuous non-conference schedules in the nation, the Bruins went 7-4 with their four losses coming against power conference opponents. Three of Belmont's four losses were away from Nashville with the Bruins going 4-1 at the Curb.
• Two of Belmont's four losses have been against top-15 opponents.
• Prior to the Bruins' loss at 13th-ranked Ohio State in their non-conference finale, Belmont had won five straight. The Bruins have put together at least a five-game winning streak in 12 consecutive seasons going back to 2012-13.
• Belmont returns from an eight-day break in game action and has only played two games in 23 days. Following an 11-day break, the Bruins earned a gritty 65-54 win at Kennesaw State on Dec. 17 before falling 84-55 at nationally-ranked Ohio State on Dec. 22.
• Six of Belmont's 11 non-conference opponents were from power conferences. Five of the Bruins' first six games of the season were against power conference programs.
• Belmont defeated two power conference teams during the non-conference portion of the schedule, routing Southeastern Conference mainstay Georgia 76-50 in its home opener on Nov. 10 and toppling the Big Ten Conference's Northwestern 83-61 at the Ball Dawgs Classic in Las Vegas on Nov. 24.
• The Bruins own five victories over power conference teams in four seasons. In addition to the Lady Bulldogs and the Wildcats, Belmont has earned wins against Oregon, Ole Miss and Auburn in recent years.
• 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 freshman standout guard Jailyn Banks and a putback attempt from junior guard Kilyn McGuff both rimmed off in the final seconds.
• Despite holding a two-point lead in the second quarter against the top-15 ranked Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio, right before Christmas, Belmont was outscored 46-27 in the second half by host Ohio State. The Buckeyes used a 29-19 third quarter to put the game away and shot a blistering 66.7 percent in the second half, including going 8-for-12 from distance. After shooting 48 percent in the first half, the Bruins couldn't find their offensive rhythm and went 7-for-27 from the field across the last 20 minutes of the game. Belmont committed a season-high 23 turnovers, which resulted in 21 points for Ohio State, and the Buckeyes outscored the Bruins 28-13 off the bench.
• Junior forward Tessa Miller led all Belmont scorers at Ohio State with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting. Her performance against the Buckeyes came on the heels of scoring a career-best 19 points in the win at Kennesaw State where she knocked down a career-high nine free throws on nine attempts. She has scored in double figures in all but one game this season and has distributed at least three assists in six-straight outings. In the Bruins' battle with top-five ranked Stanford at the Ball Dawgs Classic in the desert, Miller went 9-for-16 from the floor for 18 points after registering her fifth career double-double in Belmont's blowout of Georgia with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
• Fellow junior forward Kendal Cheesman has made three three-pointers in each of her last two games, finishing with 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting at Ohio State. Shooting 55.9 percent (19-of-34) from three-point range at the Curb this season, Cheesman is an impressive 49.2 percent (30-of-61) from deep on the season. She pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds versus the then fourth-ranked Cardinal and scored a game-high 21 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including going 4-for-7 from outside, in the convincing 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 boards in the home blowout of 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 rebounds against a power conference team. For her performance, Cheesman was selected as Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week (Nov. 14).
• Off to a sensational start to her collegiate career, Banks has three times been selected as MVC Freshman of the Week (Dec. 11, Nov. 20, Nov. 13). She's reached double figures in seven of her 11 games and is second on the team in scoring (12.1 PPG). A native of Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Christian School), Banks tallied 23 points in the season opener at the University of Missouri, the fourth-most by any true freshman this season making her debut.
• Going up against her father's program, McGuff secured a team-high six rebounds against the Buckeyes. She's scored in double figures in five of the last six games and has notched two double-doubles. After recording her first double-double in the win at Troy with 18 points and 10 boards, McGuff scored a season-best 22 points in the home victory over receiving-votes Middle Tennessee. For those two performances, McGuff captured her first MVC Player of the Week award on Dec. 4. In the 77th Battle of the Boulevard versus nearby rival Lipscomb, McGuff had a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with 13 points.
• After her true junior season was cut short due to injury last year, guard Tuti Jones returned for the opener at Missouri and has distributed at least four assists in eight of the first 11 games of the season. Averaging a team-best 4.3 assists per game, Jones earned her second career double-double against the Wildcats in Vegas with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists. At Ohio State, Jones racked up a season-high five steals. The Troy, Alabama (Charles Henderson HS), native has totaled 193 career steals, which ranks among the top 10 in program history. In fact, Jones is third in the Bruins' 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.
• UIC is the 10th of 14 opponents on Belmont's schedule who had a winning record in 2022-23 and the eighth of 12 teams who made a national postseason tournament last March.
• The Bruins' schedule also features 10 adversaries who won 20 or more games last year and six NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago.
• Six of Belmont's 11 opponents thus far are ranked in the top 80 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), including No. 3 Stanford and No. 13 Ohio State. The Bruins are currently 74th in the NET.
• The Flames enter Saturday 132nd in the NET as the fifth-highest ranked MVC team in the national metric.
• Belmont is ranked 14th in this week's CollegeInsider.com 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 (1,064).

 
From Just Outside Chicago

• Sophomore guard Claire Hyde is a native of Wheaton, Illinois, which is less than 30 miles from UIC's campus. In fact, Hyde spent her freshman year at Morton College, which is only nine miles from UIC in Cicero, Illinois. She starred at Wheaton North High School where she was twice named Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Class 4A All-State and became the school's all-time leading scorer as a senior in 2022. At Morton, Hyde earned National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II All-America First Team honors after scoring 600 points last season.

 
Conference Dominance

• Since the 2012-13 season, the Bruins have compiled a remarkable 157-32 (.831) record in league play and won 12 combined championships, including regular season and tournament titles.
• Coach Brooks is a ridiculous 97-12 (.890) in conference action over the last six seasons.
• Altogether, including conference tournaments, Belmont has gone 180-37 (.829) against league opposition over the last 11 seasons.

 
Under Coach Brooks

• In his seventh season at the helm, coach Brooks picked up his 150th win in less than 200 career games with the Bruins' 72-68 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 153-50 (.754) 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.

 
Bruins at Home

• Belmont is 93-13 (.877) at home since the start of the 2015-16 season.
• The Bruins have a home winning percentage of .743 (191-66) inside the Curb since the arena was opened prior to the 2003-04 season.
• Under coach Brooks, Belmont is an exceptional 69-12 (.852) inside the Curb.
• In conference play, the Bruins have been even more dominant at home going 83-11 (.883) since 2012. Over the last six seasons, coach Brooks has lost only five league games at the Curb with a 49-5 (.907) record.

 
Versus UIC

• Saturday afternoon will be only the third meeting between the two programs with Belmont winning both of last season's matchups.
• The Bruins defeated the Flames 72-59 on New Year's Day in the Music City before topping UIC 81-56 in Chicago on March 2.
• In Belmont's road win over the Flames last March, the Bruins shot 59.6 percent from the floor as Miller posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

 
About the Flames

• UIC also went 7-4 in its non-conference slate, picking up wins over UTEP (81-65), Chicago State (76-46), the University of Nebraska Omaha (95-89), IUPUI (79-49), Southeast Missouri (87-74), Milwaukee (73-70) and Loyola University Chicago (67-51).
• The Flames played one common opponent, Northwestern, who UIC fell to in overtime (92-86) on Nov. 9 in Evanston, Illinois.
• Capping their non-conference schedule, the Flames dropped a 66-58 decision to the SEC's Arkansas on Dec. 21 in West Palm Beach, Florida, as part of the West Palm Beach Classic.
• UIC was picked to finish sixth in the Valley after going 19-17 overall and 9-11 in the MVC last season. The Flames ended 2022-23 sixth in the conference but earned a spot in the 2023 Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI).
• UIC's 18.3 assists per game are 26th-most in the nation and the Flames rank 15th nationally in bench points per contest (30.5).
• Senior 6-foot-3 guard/forward Jaida McCloud, who leads the team in rebounding (6.5 RPG), was named Preseason All-MVC Second Team.
• Junior 6-foot forward Makiyah Williams (13.0 PPG), a Marquette transfer, graduate 5-foot-9 guard Dais'Ja Trotter (12.9 PPG), a Cincinnati transfer, and graduate 5-foot-10 guard Keimari Rimmer (11.6 PPG), a DePaul transfer, lead UIC in scoring.
• Coming off the bench, junior 5-foot-7 guard Sandra Frau-Garcia leads the Flames in assists with 4.9 per outing.

 
Up Next
Belmont hosts fellow 2022-23 MVC regular season co-champion Illinois State Thursday night. Tipoff from the Curb is set for 6:30 p.m. with the marquee matchup broadcast on The Valley on ESPN available on ESPN+. Scott Warmann (play-by-play) and Kelly Burke (analyst) will be on the call.
 
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.