HENDERSON, Nev. – For the second consecutive season, the Belmont University women's basketball program will compete in a prestigious MTE (multi-team event) as the Bruins have been invited to participate in the 2023 Ball Dawgs Classic over Thanksgiving week in Las Vegas. Held at The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada, the home of the NBA G League Ignite, on Wednesday, Nov. 22 and Friday, Nov. 24, the Ball Dawgs Classic will feature Stanford, Florida State and Northwestern, along with Belmont.
The four-team Las Vegas tournament managed by bdG Sports will tip off on Wednesday, Nov. 22 with first-round games beginning at 1 p.m. CT/11 a.m. PT. Following a day off from games for Thanksgiving Thursday, consolation and championship games will be played on Friday, Nov. 24 starting at 8:30 p.m. CT/6:30 p.m. PT.
Matchups and tipoff times will be announced at a later date.
Both three-time national champion Stanford and three-time Elite Eight participant Florida State reached last season's NCAA Tournament. Northwestern is only two seasons removed from reaching the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 as a No. 7 seed. The Cardinal went 29-6 last year and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, while the Seminoles were a No. 7 seed and finished 23-10.
Consistently playing one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in the country, the Bruins took on the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Florida, last November where Belmont faced top-25 ranked Villanova, Saint Louis and Atlantic Coast Conference member Georgia Tech. The Bruins will return to Las Vegas this fall after Belmont defeated receiving-votes Gonzaga and Florida Gulf Coast at the 2017 Play4Kay Showcase, which was held at Michelob ULTRA Arena - Mandalay Bay.
Belmont is the only school in the nation to win 20 or more games for eight consecutive seasons in both women's and men's basketball. The Bruins won their sixth regular season conference championship in seven seasons in their first year in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2022-23. Going 23-12 overall and 17-3 against the MVC, Belmont reached its third-straight conference tournament title game before earning its 10th national postseason bid in 11 seasons.
bdG Sports has partnered with Ball Dawgs, a fast-rising sports content provider with more than 825,000 followers on its social media platforms, to promote the games and showcase the action on the court at the Ball Dawgs Classic.
"Our firm has quickly found a home at The Dollar Loan Center as we annually manage the Big West Championships at the site, provide operational support for the Ignite home games and have launched and managed our own events at the arena over the past year," said bdG Sports President & CEO Brooks Downing. "We look forward to generating excitement and exposure for the teams and players in this event through our partnership with Ball Dawgs and hope that translates to a packed building on Thanksgiving week."
Tickets and Tournament Info
Tickets for the 2023 Ball Dawgs Classic will go on-sale on Friday, July 21 at 12 p.m. CT/10 a.m. PT at
TheDollarLoanCenter.com and
AXS.com. Full tournament information can be found at
BallDawgsClassic.com and on social media at
@VegasMainEvent as well as
@balldawgs on Instagram and
@TheBallDawgs on Twitter.
The Dollar Loan Center
The Dollar Loan Center opened in March 2022 as home to the Vegas Golden Knights' American Hockey League affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights. A product of a public-private partnership between the City of Henderson and a group of investors led by Bill Foley, the 5,567-seat arena is operated by the Foley Entertainment Group. The Dollar Loan Center, also home to the Indoor Football League's Vegas Knight Hawks, NBA G League's Ignite, Big West Basketball Championships and the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame, sits in the heart of Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas which has grown to become Nevada's second largest city with more than 330,000 residents.
The Bruins' full non-conference schedule will be released in the coming days.
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.
#ItsBruinTime
