Women's Basketball Earns Key 68-58 Road Win at Missouri State Sunday

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Big-time baskets from sophomore guard Kilyn McGuff and experienced play down the stretch propelled the Belmont University women's basketball team to an important 68-58 victory at Missouri State Sunday afternoon. Extending the Missouri Valley Conference's longest winning streak to 10 and completing their fifth-straight undefeated week, the Bruins limited the host Lady Bears to 29 percent shooting.
 
Improving to 13-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play and 17-10 overall, Belmont moves into a first-place tie with Illinois State and Northern Iowa in the league standings.
 
Missouri State (17-8, 12-4 MVC) entered Sunday riding an eight-game win streak.
 
Overcoming late-game foul trouble, the Bruins had two pivotal possessions deep in the fourth quarter that essentially put the game away. A layup by junior forward Madison Bartley and a remarkable three-pointer by junior guard Destinee Wells gave Belmont an eight-point lead with just over two minutes remaining after the Lady Bears clawed within three at 57-54. The Bruins sealed the win with six made free throws in the closing minute.
 
Belmont ended the afternoon affair on an 11-4 run in the final three-and-a-half minutes of play.
 
Once again controlling the paint, the Bruins outscored Missouri State 32-14 down low despite being outrebounded 47-33. Sophomore forward Kendal Cheesman provided a huge lift off the bench, scoring 10 of Belmont's 13 bench points with a trio of triples.
 
Connecting on three consecutive threes late in the opening quarter, Cheesman gave the Bruins a 20-15 lead after the first 10 minutes of action.
 
Belmont never trailed and led for nearly 39 minutes of the contest, building a 13-point lead in the second quarter. Starting red hot from the field, the Bruins shot 57.1 percent in the first half going 8-for-14 in both the first and second quarters.

Wells scored seven of Belmont's first nine points in the second quarter as the Bruins took a 29-17 lead three minutes in. Back-to-back McGuff layups put Belmont ahead 34-21 with just under four minutes to go in the half. In fact, McGuff scored nine of the Bruins' last 10 points in the half, including a triple that gave Belmont a commanding 12-point, 40-28 lead at the break.

Owning a 20-4 advantage in the paint at halftime, the Bruins held the Lady Bears to only eight made first-half field goals on 32 percent (8-of-25) shooting. Belmont had three double-figure scorers in the first half led by McGuff's 12. Wells scored 11 and Cheesman tallied 10 points across the first 20 minutes.

Missouri State scored the first four points of the second half and outpaced the Bruins 8-4 in the first three minutes of the third quarter. An extended 11-4 Lady Bear run over a four-minute stretch in the second part of the third quarter got Missouri State within four at 52-48.

A determined McGuff willed Belmont to a six-point lead heading into the final quarter. She sunk a difficult floater in the lane in the final seconds of the third quarter to put the Bruins up 54-48.

Going 1-for-8 from beyond the arc in the second half, Belmont shot 38.5 percent (5-of-13) in the third quarter as the Lady Bears went 7-for-21 (33.3 percent) from the floor.

McGuff extended the Bruins' lead to seven twice in the fourth quarter before Missouri State starting guard Aniya Thomas hit consecutive jumpers to get the Lady Bears within three at 57-54 with three-and-a-half minutes to go. On Belmont's ensuing possession, Bartley was fed in the post and converted a layup to make it a five-point game.

The Bruins got a defensive stop before Wells' big-moment experience took over. With the shot clock about to expire, Wells launched a deep, contested three-pointer and hit nothing but net as Belmont pulled ahead by eight at 62-54 with only 2:16 left.

Missouri State scored four points over the next minute of play, but the Bruins didn't allow a Lady Bear field goal in the closing 90 seconds. Bartley made five key free throws in the final 50 seconds to put the game away.

Belmont allowed only three Missouri State field goals in the fourth quarter as the Lady Bears shot 18.8 percent (3-of-16) and went 0-for-5 from distance. The Bruins kept Missouri State to 27 percent (10-of-37) shooting in the second half while earning 19 free-throw attempts.
 
Outscoring the Lady Bears 14-10 in the fourth, Belmont scored 10 points off 14 Missouri State turnovers on the afternoon. The Bruins finished 48 percent (24-of-50) from the field and 5-for-17 (29.4 percent) from outside the arc.

Wells led Belmont with 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting and dished out a game-high five assists. McGuff registered 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting, while Bartley posted 14 points and four rebounds. Cheesman snagged a team-high eight boards to go along with her 10 points.

Thomas paced the Lady Bears with 19 points and Missouri State got 17 points from fellow starting guard Paige Rocca. Starting forward Kennedy Taylor notched nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Lady Bears.

Of Note
The Bruins complete the regular season sweep of Missouri State. Belmont earns its seventh true road win of the season. The Bruins have won five-straight road games. After a 3-7 start, Belmont has won 14 of its last 17 games. The Bruins' average margin of victory during their 10-game winning streak is 19.4 points. Belmont is 83-11 (.883) during February and March since 2016 and head coach Bart Brooks has led the Bruins to a 63-8 (.887) record in the two crucial months since his arrival in Nashville. Wells has scored in double figures for 11-straight games and Bartley has reached double figures in 10 of her last 11 outings. Cheesman has recorded double-figure scoring in three of the last four contests.

Up Next
Belmont returns to the Music City next week, wrapping up the home portion of the regular season with Northern Iowa Thursday and Drake next Saturday for senior day. Thursday's tipoff with the Panthers is set for 6:30 p.m. from the Curb Event Center. The MVC home matchup will be a blue out and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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.