Second-Seeded Bruins Begin Postseason with Hoops in the Heartland Quarterfinal

MOLINE, Ill. – Vying for its seventh conference tournament title in eight seasons, the Belmont University women's basketball team begins its first Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quest Friday evening in Moline, Illinois. The second-seeded Bruins (21-10, 17-3 MVC) take on seventh-seeded Southern Illinois (12-18, 8-12 MVC) in the quarterfinals of Hoops in the Heartland after earning a first-round bye. Tipoff from Vibrant Arena at The MARK in the Quad Cities is slated for 6 p.m.
 
The third quarterfinal of the day will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Scott Warmann (play-by-play) and Laura Leonard (analyst) serving as on-air 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.
 
What's Bruin

• Belmont won its sixth regular season conference championship in seven seasons last Saturday with a gritty 70-67 victory at Valparaiso, ending the regular season on a 14-game winning streak.
• The Bruins' 14-game winning streak is tied with Toledo as the sixth-longest active winning streak in the nation. Belmont has won 14 in a row by an average margin of 16.6 points.
• Last Thursday with a dominant 81-56 road triumph at the University of Illinois Chicago, the Bruins 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 10-0 in February and March.
• Belmont has not lost a game in 54 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 18 of its last 21 games.
• Thirteen of the Bruins' first 18 opponents won no fewer than 19 games a year ago and reached a national postseason tournament.
• Belmont is 18-1 in conference tournaments since 2016 and 21-4 in league postseason championships over the last 10 years. The Bruins are 6-0 in their 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 12-1 with four tournament titles. He is a perfect 4-0 in conference tournament championship games.
• Since 2012-13, Belmont has 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 the Bruins.
• Altogether, Belmont has gone 178-36 (.832) against league opposition, including conference tournaments, over the last 11 seasons.
• The Bruins' MVC regular season crown in their first season in the league is Belmont's 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). The Bruins have won a combined 16 conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles, in their NCAA era.
• Scoring a career-high 31 points on 13-of-18 shooting in last Thursday's road win over the Flames, junior forward Madison Bartley became the third Belmont player to record 30 points in a contest this season. She joined junior guard Destinee Wells (35 points vs. Indiana State – Feb. 12 and 31 points at Valparaiso – March 4) and graduate guard Sydni Harvey (33 points vs. Troy – Dec. 20).
• With Wells pouring in 31 points in the Bruins' regular season finale at Valparaiso last Saturday, Belmont has had 30-point scorers in consecutive games.
• With a block around the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter at UIC, Bartley registered her 100th career block. She needs only 26 more points to become the Bruins' 34th 1,000-point scorer and is 13 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 14-0 with Bartley averaging 19.3 points and 5.5 rebounds.
• Wells has scored in double figures for 15-straight games, while Bartley has reached double figures in 14 of her last 15 outings.
• Wells scored 26 second-half points and accounted for 20 of Belmont's 24 points in the fourth quarter in the Bruins' hard-fought road win over the Beacons last weekend. She is the only player in the nation to score 20 points in a fourth quarter this season.
• Wells' 31-point showing at Valparaiso was her third career 30-point game and 13th career 25-point contest. She has reached 20 points on 11 occasions this season.
• Wells surpassed 1,500 points in last Saturday's road victory and has scored 553 points already this season, which is nearing Belmont's single-season top-10 scoring list. Her 1,517 career points and 410 career assists both rank in the top five in the Bruins' NCAA era.
• Wells is one of only five players in the nation averaging over 17.5 points and at least 5.0 assists while shooting over 45 percent from the field.
• Sophomore forward 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.
• Miller is one of only nine players in the country averaging at least 6.5 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 (Feb. 25) versus Drake.
• Sophomore forward Kendal Cheesman is averaging 9.6 points over the last eight games with five double-figure scoring performances.
• Sophomore guard Kilyn McGuff is averaging 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in 22 starts this season.
• Belmont is averaging 79.8 points over its last eight 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 87-11 (.888) in the two key months since 2016 and coach Brooks has led the Bruins to a 67-8 (.893) record in February and March since his arrival in Nashville.
• Friday evening will be the fourth meeting between Belmont and the Salukis with the Bruins winning all three previous matchups. Most recently, Belmont earned an 80-70 road win at Southern Illinois on Friday, Feb. 17 in Carbondale, Illinois. On Jan. 22 in the Music City, the Bruins recorded their largest-ever margin of victory against a Division I opponent with a 56-point, 101-45 shellacking of the visiting Salukis. Four Belmont players reached double figures in the Bruins' home blowout of Southern Illinois in January (Bartley, Wells, Miller, McGuff), while both Bartley and Wells tallied 19 points apiece and McGuff provided 17 in the February meeting. Bartley averaged 20.5 points on 81 percent (17-of-21) shooting during the two regular season games between the teams.
• 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. 140) is 86th-highest in the country.
• Four different Bruins have posted multiple 20-point performances this season with Wells leading the way (11), 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 (1,055).
• 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 144-44 (.766) record and nine combined conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles.

About the Salukis

• Led by first-year head coach Kelly Bond-White, the Salukis knocked out 10th-seeded Indiana State 81-79 Thursday evening in the opening round of the MVC Tournament. Despite leading by 12 with four minutes to go, the Sycamores went on a 15-2 run to go up by a point with 18 seconds remaining. Graduate transfer guard Ashley Jones then knocked down a pair of go-ahead free throws with 10 seconds left and freshman guard Jaidynn Mason capped the win with another made foul shot in the final seconds.
• Southern Illinois was the defending MVC regular season champion after going 15-3 in league play last season.
• Despite their regular season championship, the top-seeded Salukis bowed out to fourth-seeded and eventual tournament champion Illinois State in the 2022 MVC Tournament semifinals.
• Jones, a 5-foot-7 transfer from Mississippi State by way of Temple and West Virginia, is an All-MVC Second Team selection and one of the top scorers in the conference (17.3 PPG).

Up Next
With a win Friday, Belmont will move on to the 2023 MVC Tournament semifinals where the Bruins will take on either third-seeded Northern Iowa (21-8, 16-4 MVC) or sixth-seeded UIC (18-14, 9-11 MVC) Saturday at 4 p.m. in Moline. The Panthers and the Flames face each other in the quarterfinal nightcap Friday.
 
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