Women's Hoops Takes on 14th-Ranked Duke in Historic Cameron Indoor Thursday Night

 
DURHAM, N.C. – Five games into the 2024-25 season, the Belmont University women's basketball team faces its third top-15 opponent as the Bruins head to North Carolina to take on 14th-ranked Duke at historic Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham Thursday night. Tipoff of the primetime matchup is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT/7 p.m. ET.
 
Thursday's game will be broadcast on national TV on the ACC Network with Sam Gore (play-by-play) and new Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White (analyst) on the call. White was the head coach at nearby Vanderbilt from 2016-21. The marquee non-conference contest can also be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio, available online, with Dr. Rich Tiner providing live play-by-play of the action. Live stats can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Following consecutive dominant victories at Wichita State (75-55) and over Kennesaw State (75-47) in its home opener, Belmont (2-2) nearly upset 12th-ranked Ohio State this past Sunday afternoon inside the Curb Event Center.
• The Bruins led the visiting Buckeyes 59-50 with just over five minutes to go and were deadlocked with Ohio State at 63-63 with 30 seconds remaining. However, the Buckeyes' starting freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge scored four-straight points in the final 15 seconds, including finishing off an and-one play, in order for Ohio State to escape the Music City with a 67-63 win.
• Belmont trailed by as much as 13 in the first half against the Buckeyes and was down 46-40 in the third quarter before putting together an impressive 19-4 scoring run. Ohio State ended the game on a 17-4 run.
• The Bruins were able to manage 21 turnovers against the Buckeyes and led 50-47 heading into the fourth quarter. After starting 6-for-11 from beyond the arc, Belmont went 1-for-14 from deep in the second half. The Bruins held nationally-ranked Ohio State to under 35 percent (23-of-67) shooting.
• Graduate guard Kendall Holmes scored a team and season-high 19 points Sunday on 6-for-10 shooting and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds. Junior guard Emily La Chapell also reached double figures versus the Buckeyes with 13 points, including converting the game-tying free throws with just over 30 seconds to go. Graduate guard Tuti Jones, Belmont's NCAA era career steals leader (271), came up with four steals and sophomore guard Kensley Feltner snagged a career-best six boards.
• Freshman forward Hilary Fuller knocked down her first career three-pointer in the second quarter against Ohio State.
• The Bruins' season-opener was at now top-10 ranked Kansas State on Thursday, Nov. 7.

Early Tests Against Some of the Nation's Best

• Belmont goes up against three teams who are ranked in the top 15 of both the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 and USA Today Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches Poll within the first three weeks of the season. In addition to their season-opening visit to now No. 10/10 K-State, the Bruins hosted No. 12/12 Ohio State this past weekend and travel to No. 14/14 Duke this week. Later in the season on Dec. 20, Belmont heads to No. 15/16 Kentucky.

A Return for Dr. Jones

• Belmont University President Dr. L Gregory Jones and his wife, the Rev. Susan Pendleton Jones, will be returning to Duke and attending Thursday night's game. Prior to leading Belmont, both Dr. Greg Jones and Rev. Susan Jones served Duke in various capacities for over two decades. Dr. Jones was the dean of Duke Divinity School from 1997-2010 and 2018-21 and Rev. Jones served for several years as associate dean of ministerial formation at Duke. Dr. Jones received his Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from Duke in 1985 and his Ph.D. in theology from Duke in 1988.

A Winning Program

• The Bruins are the winningest program in the state of Tennessee over the previous 10 seasons, having claimed 237 victories with a winning percentage of .731 from 2014-24.
• Only nine other programs have also won 20-plus games for nine-straight seasons – UConn, Stanford, Baylor, South Carolina, Iowa, NC State, Indiana, South Dakota State and Florida Gulf Coast.
• Belmont has won the 16th-most games of any NCAA Division I women's basketball program (1,085).
• Belmont is the only school in the nation to win 20-plus games for nine consecutive seasons in both women's and men's basketball.

A Championship Program

• The Bruins (11) are one of only five teams in the nation to have won more than 10 combined conference championships, regular season and tournament, over the last eight seasons. UConn (16), Florida Gulf Coast (14), South Carolina (11) and Princeton (10) are the other four.

National Postseason Success

• Belmont has made six of the last eight NCAA Tournaments and reached the Round of 32 back-to-back years in 2022 and 2021.
• The Bruins capped their 2023-24 season by claiming their third national postseason victory in four years with a 77-59 road win at Ball State in the first-ever Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) game.

National Recognition

• Belmont has either been ranked or received votes in at least one of the two major national polls in eight of the previous nine seasons.

Mid-Major Poll

• The Bruins moved up a spot and are ranked 14th in the second CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25^® poll of the regular season.

Last Season

• Belmont went 26-9 to secure its most wins in a season since 2018-19. Going 17-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play, the Bruins finished second in their second year in the Valley.

MVC Preseason Poll

• Belmont was picked third in the MVC Preseason Poll as voted upon by the league's head coaches, media members and communications contacts but garnered three first-place votes. The Bruins have finished first or second in their conference each of the last nine seasons.

Experience and Youth

• Returning starters Jones, senior forward Kendal Cheesman and sophomore guard Jailyn Banks, all of whom were All-MVC Third Team selections last year and were named Preseason All-MVC Second Team, are three of eight returning letter winners for Belmont.
• The Bruins have a great mix of experience and youth in 2024-25 with fifth-year Jones, Cheesman and graduate transfer guards Jacee Busick (Charlotte) and Holmes (South Dakota/DePaul) providing plenty of starting knowledge. Busick and Holmes brought in a combined 1,382 points and 150 Division I starts. In her Belmont debut at top-15 ranked K-State, Holmes scored a team-high 12 points. Through four games, Holmes leads the Bruins in scoring (12.3 PPG).
• Over the summer, Belmont also welcomed a trio of talented freshmen with guard Quinn Eubank (Union, Ky.), Fuller (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) and guard Sanaa Tripp (Covington, Ga.) arriving in the Music City.

Under Coach Brooks

• In his eighth season at the helm, head coach Bart Brooks was named to the preseason watch list for the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats for the second consecutive year.
• On Nov. 29, 2023, Brooks picked up his 150th win in less than 200 career games with the Bruins' 72-68 victory at Troy. He has led Belmont to a remarkable record of 174-57 (.753) and the Bruins are an astonishing 114-15 (.884) in conference games under his leadership.
• In conference tournament games, Brooks has gone 15-3 and he is 4-1 in championship contests. In the key months of February and March under Brooks' direction, Belmont has gone 79-14 (.849).

Among the Toughest Schedules in the Nation

• The Bruins annually play one of the best non-conference schedules in the country and this season is no different. Belmont takes on six, and possibly seven, power conference programs this year. Combined with their MVC slate, the Bruins face no fewer than 10 teams who won 20 or more games last season and have a date with nine programs who finished in the top 100 of the final 2023-24 NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings.
• Additionally, Belmont will see no less than 12 national postseason teams from a year ago, including six who reached the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

Bruins at Home

• The Bruins are 103-15 (.873) at home since the start of the 2015-16 season.
• Belmont has a home winning percentage of .747 (201-68) inside the Curb since the arena opened prior to the 2003-04 season.
• Under coach Brooks, the Bruins are an exceptional 79-14 (.849) inside the Curb.
• In conference play, Belmont has been even more dominant at home, going 92-12 (.885) since 2012. In seven seasons, coach Brooks has lost only six league games at the Curb with a 58-6 (.906) record.
• The Bruins went 13-2 at home last season, securing the most home wins in a single season since 2019-20.

Versus Duke

• Thursday will be only the second-ever meeting between Belmont and the Blue Devils.
• The two teams first met in coach Brooks' first year in 2017-18 in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament in Athens, Georgia. Despite owning 31 wins and being ranked No. 23 in the nation, the Bruins were a No. 12 seed. Duke was a No. 5 seed and was ranked 20th in the country. Belmont trailed by only a point at halftime (32-31) but was outscored 40-27 in the second half as the Blue Devils pulled away for a 72-58 win.

Against the Top 25

• The Bruins are 1-34 all-time against nationally-ranked opponents in Belmont's NCAA era.
• The Bruins' lone victory over a top-25 team came in the 2021 NCAA Tournament First Round when Belmont ousted 14th-ranked and fifth-seeded Gonzaga 64-59 in San Marcos, Texas.

Against the ACC

• The Bruins are 5-17 all-time against current Atlantic Coast Conference members.
• Belmont last faced a current ACC opponent last November in Las Vegas when the Bruins challenged top-five ranked Stanford as part of the 2023 Ball Dawgs Classic. Although the Cardinal won 74-55, it was a two possession game with under five minutes left.
• Two seasons ago, Belmont played three games against an ACC opponent, including hosting a top-10 ranked Louisville team and Georgia Tech. In fact, the Bruins took on the Yellow Jackets in consecutive games as Belmont also saw Georgia Tech in the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Florida. All three affairs were decided by six points or less.
• The Bruins own victories over ACC members Wake Forest (Dec. 6, 2015), Clemson (Nov. 25, 2005), Louisville (1972-73) and North Carolina (1975-76 and 1974-75).

About the Blue Devils

• Led by fifth-year head coach Kara Lawson, Duke is off to a 4-1 start. The Blue Devils' lone blemish was an 85-80 loss at now 11th-ranked Maryland the first weekend of the season on Sunday, Nov. 10.
• Duke has defeated Radford (89-36) and Dayton (84-49) at home and Liberty (83-67) and South Dakota State (75-71) on the road.
• The Blue Devils were picked third in the ACC's preseason predicted order of finish after tying for seventh in the ultra-competitive league last year with an 11-7 conference record. Duke went 22-12 overall in 2023-24 and reached the Sweet 16 as a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament after ousting second-seeded Ohio State in the second round.
• Senior 5-foot-11 guard Reigan Richardson is a Preseason All-ACC selection and was named All-ACC Second Team last season.
• The Blue Devils also feature sophomore 5-foot-10 guard Oluchi Okananwa, the 2023-24 ACC Sixth Player of the Year, and an ACC All-Freshman Team performer last year.
• Freshman 6-foot-2 forward Toby Fournier was named to the ACC Newcomer Watch List.
• Through the first five games of the season, junior 6-foot guard Ashlon Jackson is averaging a team-high 13.2 points while Fournier is averaging 12.4 points. Sophomore 6-foot guard/forward Jadyn Donovan is averaging a near double-double with 9.2 rebounds and 10.6 points per outing through the first five contests. Junior 5-foot-9 guard Taina Mair is Duke's top distributor with 15 assists through five games.

?? | Senior forward Carmyn Harrison discusses 14th-ranked Duke and visiting Cameron Indoor Stadium ????#ItsBruinTime | #Splashville pic.twitter.com/DibzJjW3i4

— Belmont WBasketball (@BelmontWBB) November 20, 2024

Up Next
Belmont will have an eight-day break from game action as the Bruins make their way to the Sunshine State for the 2024 Elevance Health Fort Myers Tip-Off in Florida. Held Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 28-30 at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers, Belmont will take on the Big Ten Conference's Michigan next Friday, Nov. 29 at 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET in the Shell Division of the MTE (multi-team event). Next Saturday, Nov. 30, the Bruins will face either the ACC's Virginia Tech or Davidson College.
 
Ticket Info
Season tickets are on sale now for $199 per seat and include all women's and men's basketball home games.
 
View available seating and purchase your seats.
 
Flex pack plans for the 2024-25 season are also on sale and can be purchased here.
 
For more information, call 615-460-BALL or visit BelmontBruins.com/Tickets.
 
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.