Women's Hoops Makes First MVC Tournament Title Game Appearance Sunday

MOLINE, Ill. – The Belmont University women's basketball team goes for its seventh conference tournament championship in eight seasons Sunday afternoon in Moline, Illinois, at Vibrant Arena at The MARK. In their first-ever Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, the second-seeded Bruins (23-10, 17-3 MVC) take on fourth-seeded Drake (21-9, 14-6 MVC) in the title game. Tipoff from the Quad Cities is slated for 1 p.m.
 
Sunday's championship will be nationally televised on ESPNU with Scott Warmann providing play-by-play and Laura Leonard serving as analyst. Dr. Rich Tiner will have the play-by-play call of the action on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeart Radio. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Belmont has been fueled by the inspired play of junior guard Destinee Wells over its last three games. The two-time Ohio Valley Conference Tournament MVP has averaged 31 points in her last three outings.
• The Bruins won their sixth regular season conference championship in seven seasons last Saturday with a tough 70-67 victory at Valparaiso, ending the regular season on a 14-game winning streak.
• Belmont extended its winning streak to 16 early Saturday evening with a gritty 69-62 MVC Tournament semifinal victory over third-seeded Northern Iowa. The Bruins' 16-game winning streak is tied with Toledo as the fifth-longest current winning streak in the nation.
• Belmont has won 16 in a row by an average margin of 15.3 points.
• The Bruins have reached 20 wins for the eighth consecutive season.
• Belmont is one of only three non-power conference programs to win 20 or more games for eighth-straight seasons, Florida Gulf Coast and South Dakota State are the other two.
• Belmont is the only school in the country to win 20-plus games in both men's and women's basketball for eight consecutive seasons.
• The Bruins are an unblemished 12-0 in February and March.
• Belmont has not lost a game in 56 days – the Bruins' last setback came at home on Jan. 15 against Illinois State (70-56).
• After starting the season 3-7, Belmont has won 20 of its last 23 games.
• Seven of the Bruins' 10 non-conference opponents will most likely be in the NCAA Tournament field.
• Belmont has defeated two 2023 NCAA Tournament automatic qualifiers in Chattanooga (56-54) and Saint Louis (78-68).
• The Bruins are 20-1 in conference tournaments since 2016 and 23-4 in their last 11 league postseason championships. Belmont is 6-0 in its last six conference tournament title games.
• Head coach Bart Brooks has lost just one conference tournament game in his six seasons leading the program, going 14-1 with four tournament titles. He is a perfect 4-0 in conference tournament championship games.
• Since 2012-13, 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 an astounding 97-12 (.890) in conference action over his six seasons guiding Belmont.
• Altogether, the Bruins have gone 180-36 (.833) against league opposition, including conference tournaments, over the last 11 seasons.
• Belmont's MVC regular season crown in its first season in the league is the Bruins' ninth regular season conference championship – five in the Ohio Valley Conference (2021-22, 2019-20, 2018-19, 2017-18, 2016-17) and three in the ASUN Conference (2006-07, 2005-06, 2003-04). Belmont has won a combined 16 conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles, in its NCAA era.
• Three different Bruins have turned in 30-point games this season led by Wells' three 30-point outings. Wells scored a career-high 35 in Belmont's home win over Indiana State on Feb. 12 before surpassing 30 points in back-to-back games at Valparaiso last Saturday (31) and versus Southern Illinois in the MVC Tournament quarterfinals Friday evening (34).
• Junior forward Madison Bartley scored a career-high 31 points in last Thursday's road win at the University of Illinois Chicago.
• Graduate guard Sydni Harvey scored 33 points versus Troy on Dec. 20.
• Wells totaled a near career-best 34 points on 11-for-17 shooting in Friday's quarterfinal win over the Salukis.
• Wells' 34 points Friday against Southern Illinois tied for the sixth-most in a MVC Tournament game. She scored 22 of the Bruins' last 27 points from the six-minute mark of the third quarter forward. Last Saturday against the Beacons in northwest Indiana, Wells scored 26 second-half points and had 20 of Belmont's 24 points in the fourth quarter. She is the only player in the nation to score 20 points in a fourth quarter this season.
• Wells has scored over 25 points in four of her last five outings, including pouring in 28 points in the Bruins' MVC Tournament semifinal victory Saturday. She owns four career 30-point games and 15 career 25-point contests. Wells has reached 20 points on 13 occasions this season.
• With her 28 points in Saturday's win over the Panthers, Wells set Belmont's NCAA era single-season scoring record. She has a remarkable 615 points on the season.
• With 1,579 career points, Wells is in eighth place on the Bruins' all-time scoring list. She passed current director of basketball operations Sally McCabe for third place on Belmont's NCAA era career scoring list Friday.
• Wells has scored in double figures for 17-straight games, while Bartley has reached double figures in 15 of the last 17 games.
• Wells is one of only six players in the nation averaging at least 18 points, 4.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds.
• Wells is averaging 23 points, 4.6 assists and 1.3 steals in March for her career.
• With a block around the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter on the road against the Flames last weekend, Bartley registered her 100th career block. She needs just eight more points to become the Bruins' 34th 1,000-point scorer and is only two rebounds away from 400 for her career.
• Since being reinserted into Belmont's starting lineup on Jan. 20 versus Missouri State, the Bruins have gone 16-0 with Bartley averaging 18 points and 5.5 rebounds.
• Sophomore Tessa Miller notched her third double-double of the season and team-best fourth of her career last Thursday at UIC with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She had nearly her fourth double-double of the season Friday in the semifinals with nine points and nine boards.
• Miller is one of only nine players in the country averaging at least 6.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting over 50 percent from the floor.
• Harvey won her 100th career game on senior day versus Drake (Feb. 25).
• Sophomore guard Kilyn McGuff is averaging 10.4 points and 5.5 rebounds in 24 starts this season.
• Belmont is averaging 77.7 points over its last 10 games and has scored at least 80 points six times during that stretch.
• In February and March, the Bruins have been at their best. Belmont is a stunning 89-11 (.890) in the two key months since 2016 and coach Brooks has led the Bruins to a 69-8 (.896) record in February and March since his arrival in Nashville.
• Sunday afternoon will be just the third all-time meeting between Belmont and the Bulldogs with the teams splitting games during the regular season. Drake handed the Bruins their worst loss in conference play since Belmont's ASUN Conference days with a 31-point, 94-63 defeat in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 6. The setback was the Bruins' largest margin of defeat since Nov. 30, 2019, and gave Belmont its first-ever MVC loss. On senior day just over two weeks ago on Feb. 25., the Bruins avenged their first encounter with the Bulldogs by earning a hard-fought 83-77 victory over Drake at the Curb Event Center. Completing the month of February a perfect 8-0, Belmont led by as much as 17 in the contest but the Bulldogs went on a 14-0 scoring run to climb within a point with a minute to go. Wells scored five-straight points and seven of the Bruins' nine in the final minute to clinch the triumph. She finished with a game-high 27 points and seven assists, while Drake's starting point guard Katie Dinnebier scored a team-high 24 on 8-for-15 shooting.
• Belmont is ranked in the top 80 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings at No. 80 as the third-highest ranked MVC team.
• The Bruins' non-conference strength of schedule is ranked as the ninth-most difficult in the nation. Furthermore, Belmont's average opponent NET ranking (No. 139) is tied for 85th-highest in the country.
• Four different Bruins have posted multiple 20-point performances this season with Wells leading the way (13), followed by Bartley (8), McGuff (3) and Harvey (2).
• Belmont 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. The Bruins 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, Belmont began the season ranked No. 6 in the nation in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25^® and is currently ranked 16th in the mid-major poll.
• Entering their first season in the MVC, the Bruins were picked to win the conference after a vote of the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media members. Belmont 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, the Bruins have either been ranked or received votes in at least one of the two major national polls for eight-straight seasons.
• Belmont is the only non-power conference program to reach the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 each of the last two seasons.
• The Bruins have earned a national postseason bid nine of the last 10 years and reached each of the last six NCAA Tournaments.
• Belmont owns the 17th-most victories in NCAA Division I women's basketball history (1,057).
• In 2021-22, Belmont and BYU were the only two schools in the nation 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 146-44 (.768) record and nine combined conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles.

About the Bulldogs

• Led by second-year head coach Allison Pohlman, the Bulldogs have rattled off four-straight wins after their loss at Belmont on Feb. 25.
• Drake boasts the league's top NET ranking, heading into Sunday at No. 52.
• The Bulldogs dismantled defending MVC Tournament champion and top-seeded Illinois State 74-54 in the Hoops in the Heartland semifinals Saturday afternoon. Senior forward Maggie Bair, an All-MVC First Team selection, paced all scorers with 19 points and earned a double-double with 10 boards. Grace Berg, a redshirt senior forward and All-MVC Third Team pick, tallied 16 points going 3-for-5 from outside. Sophomore guard Dinnebier, also a member of the All-MVC Third Team, nearly had a double-double with nine points and 10 assists.

Up Next
The Bruins await Selection Sunday to learn of their national postseason fate. The 68-team NCAA Tournament field will be announced exclusively on ESPN Sunday evening at 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET. The 64-team WNIT field will be announced by 9 p.m. CT/10 p.m. ET Sunday night. 
 
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