Belmont Travels to Bradley Sunday

PEORIA, Ill. – Making its inaugural trip to Peoria, Illinois, the Belmont University women's basketball team takes on Bradley University Sunday afternoon inside Renaissance Coliseum. Tipoff of the Missouri Valley Conference road tilt is set for 2 p.m.
 
The matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Cody Schindler and Jonathan Michel serving as talent. Dr. Rich Tiner will have the play-by-play call of the game on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeart Radio. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
Every free throw the Bruins make throughout the month of February benefits the Kay Yow Cancer Fund through the Play4Kay Free Throw Challenge. To learn more about Play4Kay and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, visit KayYow.com. To make a pledge on Belmont's free throws during the month or to donate, visit Belmont's Play4Kay page. All proceeds benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
 
What's Bruin

• Seeking their sixth consecutive victory, the Bruins (12-10, 8-3 MVC) are on their longest winning streak of the season.
• After starting 3-7, Belmont has gone 9-3 over its last 12 games.
• The Bruins have held their last five opponents to 35 percent shooting or below and their last four opponents under 60 points.
• Juniors Madison Bartley and Destinee Wells have reached double figures in six-straight games.
• Forward Bartley has led Belmont in scoring each of the last five games.
• Thirteen of the Bruins' first 18 opponents won no fewer than 19 games a year ago and reached a national postseason tournament.
• Since 2012-13, Belmont has compiled a remarkable 148-32 (.822) record in conference play and won 11 combined championships, including regular season and tournament titles.
• Head coach Bart Brooks is an astounding 88-12 (.880) in league action over his six seasons guiding the Bruins.
• Behind sophomore forward Tessa Miller's second-straight double-double and a trio of double-figure scorers, Belmont won its fifth in a row Thursday evening with a 64-54 home triumph over Murray State. Overcoming poor shooting from beyond the arc, the Bruins shot 56.3 percent on two-pointers and outworked the Racers 30-18 in the paint. Belmont put together another strong defensive performance, limiting Murray State to just 28.8 percent shooting and keeping last year's Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year to 15 points on 5-for-17 shooting. Going up 12-4 in the opening quarter, the Bruins were in control for nearly the entirety of the contest and led by as much as 11 in the third quarter. Despite never trailing, Belmont found itself in a one-point game with less than five minutes left. However, sophomore guard Kilyn McGuff and fellow guard Wells knocked down big-time three-pointers before sealing the win with free throws down the stretch. The Bruins closed the game on a 13-4 run as Wells scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half and went 8-for-8 at the foul line. Scoring 11 in the third quarter, Bartley finished with a game-high 19 points on 8-for-15 shooting. Recording her third career double-double, Miller posted an impressive stat line of 15 rebounds, 13 points, four assists, three blocks and a steal. McGuff accounted for seven points and seven boards in the second half.
• Sunday afternoon will be the first-ever meeting between Belmont and Bradley. It will mark the Bruins' first-ever MVC game in the Land of Lincoln.
• Senior guard Nikki Baird hails from the state of Illinois. She is a native of Wheaton, Illinois (Wheaton North HS), which is a suburb of Chicago and about 150 miles from Peoria.
• On Jan. 18, Wells was named to the midseason watch list for the 2023 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats. One of only 15 players nationally in contention for the player of the year award, Wells has reached double-figure scoring in all but four games. Through 22 games, Wells is averaging 16.5 points, 4.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds per contest. She ranks third in the MVC in scoring and assists as the only player in the league averaging over 16 points and four assists.
• Despite its 12-10 record, Belmont is ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings at No. 92 as the fourth-highest ranked MVC team. The Braves enter the weekend with the lowest NET ranking in the 12-team conference, sitting near the bottom nationally at 342nd.
• The Bruins' non-conference strength of schedule is ranked as the 14th-most difficult in the nation. Furthermore, Belmont's average opponent NET ranking (No. 120) is tied for 60th-highest in the country.
• The Bruins have faced a trio of teams ranked in the top 25 of the NET – No. 8 Iowa (Nov. 20), No. 15 Villanova (Nov. 25) and No. 25 Middle Tennessee (Nov. 16). In fact, Belmont has taken on nine teams ranked in the top 85 of the NET, including No. 34 Louisville (Nov. 13), No. 46 Georgia (Dec. 17), No. 55 Drake (Jan. 6), No. 65 Northern Iowa (Jan. 8), No. 68 Georgia Tech (Nov. 27 and Dec. 4) and No. 85 Illinois State (Jan. 15).
• Seven of the Bruins' 10 non-conference opponents this season won over 20 games last year and earned a national postseason tournament bid.
• A total of 13 opponents on Belmont's schedule reached a national postseason tournament last March, including seven who made the NCAA Tournament, and 12 won at least 20 games last season.
• With a challenging four-game stretch from Nov. 13-25, the Bruins have taken on three nationally-ranked teams. Louisville was ranked seventh in the nation when the Cardinals visited Nashville on Nov. 13 and Belmont traveled to now No. 21 Middle Tennessee just three days later before heading to then fourth-ranked Iowa on Nov. 20. On Friday, Nov. 25 in Estero, Florida, at the Gulf Coast Showcase, the Bruins battled then 23rd-ranked Villanova in a high-scoring 83-80 setback.
• Recording her second career double-double on Jan. 1 in the 72-59 home win over the University of Illinois Chicago with 18 points and 10 rebounds, both of Bartley's double-doubles have been achieved on New Year's Day. She began 2022 with 21 points and 14 rebounds in a road victory at Eastern Illinois.
• Graduate guard Sydni Harvey garnered MVC Player and Newcomer of the Week accolades following Christmas weekend for her sensational shooting display and 33-point outing in Belmont's thrilling 98-87 overtime victory over Troy on Dec. 20. She recorded the first 30-point game by a Bruin player since March 6, 2021, when Wells scored 32 in the 2021 OVC Tournament championship game versus UT Martin. Harvey's program record 10 three-pointers were the second-most ever by a MVC player in a game and she became the first NCAA Division I women's basketball player to hit 10 threes in a contest this season. Her 10th trey 78 seconds into overtime put Belmont up 87-82 as she tied the Curb record for made triples in a game. Harvey also became the first Valley player to make 10 threes in a contest since Drake's Kyndal Clark did so versus Loyola Chicago on Jan. 24, 2014. Prior to Harvey's 10-for-12 shooting from outside, the last Division I women's player to make 10 three-pointers on 12 or fewer attempts was Marshall's Taylor Porter, who also went 10-for-12 from deep on March 7, 2019, against Florida International University. The Nashville, Tennessee (Brentwood Academy), native went 3-for-4 at the free-throw line and added a pair of rebounds in the home win over the Trojans. Harvey's 37.6 three-point percentage and 44 made treys on the season are both among MVC leaders.
• With 21 boards against Troy, Miller registered the Bruins' first 20-rebound performance since Ellie Harmeyer notched 20 versus the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Nov. 6, 2019. Her 21 rebounds were just three off the single-game program record of 24.
• Along with 24 points and a season-high nine assists, Wells added a trio of rebounds and a pair of steals in Belmont's non-conference finale win over the Trojans. She became the first MVC player since 2016 to total 24 points, nine assists and two steals in a game. The Lakeland, Tennessee (Houston HS), native also became the first MVC player since 2012 to tally 24 points, nine assists and two steals while making two or more three-pointers (2-of-5). Wells' 24-point, nine-assist, two-steal performance was only the ninth in the nation this season – three of the first eight such outings were accomplished by Iowa's Caitlin Clark, the reigning Big Ten Conference Player of the Year. With her 25-point output against UIC, Wells became the third Bruin since 2009-10 to score 25-plus points in 10 or more career games, joining Kylee Smith (12) and Ellie Harmeyer (11).
• Four different Belmont players have posted multiple 20-point performances this season with Wells leading the way (8), followed by Bartley (5), and Harvey and McGuff with two 20-point games apiece.
• Wells has been held under double figures in consecutive games just once in her impressive career, finishing with nine points at then No. 4 Iowa on Nov. 20 after scoring five at now top-25 Middle Tennessee on Nov. 16.
• Following the first week of the season, Wells was tabbed MVC Player of the Week after a pair of 20-point home showings against Chattanooga and top-10 ranked Louisville. Wells scored 26 of her 40 points on the week in the fourth quarter, grabbed a career-high tying seven rebounds against the Mocs, and put the Bruins in front of the nationally-ranked Cardinals with only 2:17 remaining. The star guard became Belmont's 33rd 1,000-point scorer in the tightly-contested matchup with seventh-ranked Louisville and was named to the 2022-23 John R. Wooden Award^® presented by Wendy's^® Preseason Top 50 Watch List after the opening week of the season. One of only four mid-major players to appear on the prestigious watch list, Wells has scored 1,326 points and registered 356 assists in only 78 career games. She has reached double-figure scoring in all but six of her last 67 games and 69 total career outings. Wells owns 28 20-point games and was tabbed MVC Preseason Player of the Year in the Bruins' first year in the league.
• Between Harvey, who scored 1,142 points at South Florida and has accounted for 1,343 career points, and Wells, Belmont has two career 1,000-point scorers.
• The Bruins received seven votes in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 and eight votes in the USA Today Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches Poll following week one of the regular season. Belmont received 14 votes in the preseason AP Top 25 and nine votes in the preseason USA Today Sports/WBCA Coaches Poll.
• One of the premier mid-major programs in the country, the Bruins began the season ranked No. 6 in the nation in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25^®.
• Entering its first season in the MVC, Belmont was picked to win the conference after a vote of the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media members. The Bruins received 32 of 44 possible first-place votes in the preseason predicted order of finish.
• Ranked 25th in Sports Illustrated's 2022-23 basketball preview edition, Belmont has either been ranked or received votes in at least one of the two major national polls for eight-straight seasons.
• The Bruins are the only non-power conference program to reach the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 each of the last two seasons.
• Belmont has earned a national postseason bid nine of the last 10 years and reached each of the last six NCAA Tournaments.
• The Bruins are one of just 12 programs in the nation and one of only three non-power conference teams (Florida Gulf Coast and South Dakota State) to win 20 or more games for seven-straight seasons.
• Belmont owns the 17th-most victories in NCAA Division I women's basketball history (1,046).
• Belmont is the only school in the nation to win 20 or more games for seven consecutive seasons in both men's and women's basketball.
• In 2021-22, Belmont and BYU were the only two schools in the country who received votes in top-25 coaches polls in men's and women's basketball and baseball during their respective regular seasons.
• In his sixth season at the helm, coach Brooks has guided the Bruins to an impressive 135-44 (.754) record and eight combined conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles.

About the Braves

• Led by first-year head coach Kate Popovec-Goss, Bradley is 3-19 on the season and winless in conference play (0-11).
• On a 14-game slide, the Braves' last win came on Dec. 6 at OVC member Eastern Illinois (72-61). Bradley's only other two victories this season came in November against the Southland Conference's McNeese State (77-58) and versus NAIA Missouri Baptist (66-46).
• After going 4-24 last year and finishing last in the MVC with a 1-17 league record, the Braves were picked 11th out of 12 teams in the conference's preseason poll.
• A MVC All-Freshman Team pick last season, sophomore 5-foot-4 guard Caroline Waite is averaging a team-best 12.1 points per game.
• Sophomore Alex Rouse, a 5-foot-8 transfer guard from Old Dominion, is also averaging double-figure scoring (11.5 PPG), while junior 6-foot forward Isis Fitch leads Bradley in rebounding (6.2 RPG). Junior 5-foot-6 guard Ruba Abo Hashesh, a junior college transfer, is the Braves' top facilitator (2.9 APG).
• Bradley's average scoring margin through 22 games is minus-16.4 points. The Braves were defeated 84-52 at Illinois State Thursday evening after falling 78-71 at Valparaiso last Sunday.
• Following a three-game road stretch, Bradley plays host for the first time since Sunday, Jan. 22.

Up Next
Belmont returns to the Curb Event Center next weekend, hosting Evansville Friday and Indiana State Sunday. Both games will be played across homecoming weekend.
 
Single game tickets are on sale. Click here to view available seating and purchase your seats.
 
For more information, call 615-460-BALL or visit BelmontBruins.com.
 
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