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Tessa_Miller_vs_SouthernIllinois2024
Bill Biggs
64
Southern Ill. SIU 7-12,2-7 MVC
72
Winner Belmont BEL 15-5,8-1 MVC
Southern Ill. SIU
7-12,2-7 MVC
64
Final
72
Belmont BEL
15-5,8-1 MVC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Southern Ill. SIU 16 12 10 26 64
Belmont BEL 15 13 22 22 72

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Bruins Defeat Salukis 72-64, Improve to 9-1 at Home

Tessa Miller Scores Career-High 20, Belmont Moves to 8-1 in MVC Play

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Winning its third straight and eighth in nine outings, the Belmont University women's basketball team earned a hard-fought, 72-64 win over Southern Illinois University Sunday afternoon inside the Curb Event Center in Nashville. Backed by junior forward Tessa Miller's career-high 20 points and freshman standout guard Jailyn Banks' 19 points, the Bruins (15-5, 8-1 MVC) won their seventh consecutive home game.
 
Against one of the nation's best teams at forcing turnovers, Belmont limited its turnovers to 13 and allowed only five steals. The Salukis (7-12, 2-7 MVC) entered Sunday averaging the 11th-most steals per game (12) in the country and 20.8 forced turnovers per contest.
 
After a slow start, the Bruins built a 16-point lead in the third quarter and held off a gritty Southern Illinois squad late. Belmont outscored the Salukis 22-10 in the third quarter and made five free throws in the closing 90 seconds to seal the victory.
 
Facing the Missouri Valley Conference's leader on the offensive glass, the Bruins gave up only four offensive rebounds and zero second-chance points. Meanwhile, Belmont scored 16 points off eight offensive boards and outrebounded Southern Illinois 30-26 overall.
 
The Bruins outscored the Salukis 34-24 in the paint and got 14 points from their bench.

Miller was 9-for-13 from the field and secured a team-best seven rebounds, to go along with three assists and a block. Banks drew 11 fouls, distributed a pair of assists and came up with a steal.
 
Belmont shot 50 percent (26-of-52) from the floor and went 5-for-12 (41.7 percent) from beyond the arc.

Scoreless for nearly the first two-and-a-half minutes of the game, the Bruins took a 9-7 lead a little over five-and-a-half minutes in on a three-pointer from senior guard Blair Schoenwald. Sophomore guard Emily La Chapell then capped an 11-1 Belmont scoring run with a three of her own putting the Bruins up 15-8 with 2:41 to go in the opening quarter. Unbothered by Belmont's recovery, Southern Illinois ended the first quarter on an 8-0 run and led 16-15 after one quarter of play.
 
After the Salukis made the first basket of the second quarter, the Bruins went on a 10-0 run across 4:36 of action. A La Chapell free throw gave Belmont a 25-19 lead just past the midway point of the quarter before a deep three-pointer from junior forward Kendal Cheesman extended the Bruins' lead to 28-21 with four minutes left in the half. However, Southern Illinois kept Belmont from scoring the rest of the half as the Salukis went on a 7-0 run to even the score at 28 heading into the break.
 
The Bruins went 5-for-9 from the field in the second quarter as both teams shot 40 percent in the first half. Southern Illinois made four of its first seven three-point attempts and the Salukis got 11 first-half points from starting guard Laniah Randle.
 
Belmont started the second half on a 13-3 run with a Banks layup making it a 10-point Bruin lead at 41-31. Cheesman's second triple of the afternoon stretched the run to 16-3 and put Belmont up 44-31. Miller scored on a putback layup and redshirt junior guard Tuti Jones gave the Bruins their largest lead of the day at 48-32 with three minutes to go in the third quarter. After Southern Illinois trimmed the deficit to 10, a Miller layup made it 50-38 through three quarters.
 
Belmont shot 66.7 percent (10-of-15) in the third quarter with Miller scoring nine points. The Bruins held the Salukis to 3-for-11 (27.3 percent) from field in the stanza.
 
Banks hit a jumper to start the scoring in the fourth quarter and Belmont continued to lead by double digits until a three by Southern Illinois star guard Quierra Love helped ignite a Saluki comeback attempt. Another Miller layup put the Bruins up 60-46 with just over six minutes remaining, but Southern Illinois would go on a 10-3 run to climb back within seven.
 
Miller knocked down a jumper for her final basket with just over three minutes to go, keeping Belmont in front by nine at 65-56. The Salukis' Randle then scored on a layup and Southern Illinois crept within five at 65-60 with a Love jumper at the 2:15 mark. Banks responded with a challenging layup with just under two minutes left and the Bruins didn't allow another Saluki bucket the rest of the way. Made free throws by Banks and Jones iced the game. Southern Illinois scored 26 points in the fourth quarter behind 64.3 percent (9-of-14) shooting.
 
Belmont shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) in the second half as both teams hit 10 free throws. The Salukis were 2-for-2 from deep across the last 20 minutes of play.

Miller scored 13 of her game-high 20 points in the second half while Banks tallied 12 of her 19.

Southern Illinois staring guard Jaidynn Mason led the Salukis in the second half with 12 points.
 
Jones scored all nine of her points in the second half on 3-for-3 shooting. She also finished with a game-best six assists and came up with two steals. Cheesman delivered a trio of blocks and scored eight points.

Randle collected a game-high eight rebounds and totaled a team-best 17 points for Southern Illinois and the Salukis got 14 points from both Love and Mason. Of Note
  • The Bruins are 5-0 all-time versus Southern Illinois.
  • Belmont has held 13 of its 20 opponents this season under 65 points.
  • Miller has reached double figures in 15 of 20 games this season.
  • Banks has scored in double figures in 14 of her first 20 collegiate games.
  • The Bruins are 165-33 (.833) in conference play since the 2012-13 season.
  • Belmont is 98-13 (.883) at home since the start of the 2015-16 season.

Up Next
The Bruins wrap up their three-game homestand Friday evening with rival Murray State visiting the Curb for Belmont's annual "Red Out" game. Tipoff of the primetime MVC matchup is set for 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the MVC TV Network, available on select Bally Sports regional channels and simulcast on ESPN+.

How to Follow
Follow Belmont women's basketball on social media - @BelmontWBB on X, formerly 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.
 
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