Women's Basketball Faces Wichita State Saturday Afternoon in Kansas

 
WICHITA, Kan. – Following a challenging season opener at 13th-ranked Kansas State Thursday night, the Belmont University women's basketball team travels a little over two hours south to Wichita, Kansas, to take on Wichita State Saturday afternoon. Tipoff from Charles Koch Arena is set for 2 p.m.
 
Saturday's matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Tracy Anderson (play-by-play) and Shane Dennis (analyst) on the call. The game 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

• Against the top-15 ranked Wildcats Thursday night, the Bruins (0-1) were held to 31.3 percent (21-of-67) shooting in an 82-56 season-opening loss. Belmont went 4-for-22 from beyond the arc, including 0-for-10 from deep in the second half, while K-State shot over 50 percent from the field and went 9-for-22 from outside. After trailing by only three through one quarter of play, the Bruins were outscored 23-8 in the second quarter and got no closer than 15 in the second half.
• All three of Belmont's freshmen played at least eight minutes in the Little Apple with both guard Sanaa Tripp and forward Hilary Fuller scoring their first career baskets in the first half.
• Senior forward Kendal Cheesman grabbed a game-high eight rebounds against the Wildcats Thursday.
• The Bruins go up against three teams who are ranked in the top 15 of both the preseason 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. Belmont hosts No. 14/14 Ohio State on Nov. 17 and travels to No. 11/11 Duke on Nov. 21. Later in the season on Dec. 20, the Bruins head to No. 22/22 Kentucky.
• Belmont is the winningest program in the state of Tennessee over the previous 10 seasons, having claimed 237 victories with a winning percentage of .731.
• The Bruins have made six of the last eight NCAA Tournaments and reached the Round of 32 back-to-back years in 2022 and 2021.
• 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 (11) is 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.
• The Bruins have won the 16th-most games of any NCAA Division I women's basketball program (1,083).
• 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.
• The Bruins have either been ranked or received votes in at least one of the two major national polls in eight of the previous nine seasons.
• 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.
• Belmont capped its 2023-24 season by claiming its 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.
• Returning starters Tuti Jones, Cheesman and 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 the Bruins.
• Belmont has a great mix of experience and youth in 2024-25 with fifth-year graduate guard Jones, senior forward Cheesman and graduate transfers Jacee Busick (Charlotte) and Kendall 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 Bruin debut at nationally-ranked K-State, Holmes scored a team-high 12 points.
• Over the summer, Belmont also welcomed a trio of talented freshmen with guard Quinn Eubank (Union, Ky.), Fuller (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) and Tripp (Covington, Ga.) arriving in the Music City.
• In his eighth season at the helm, coach 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 172-56 (.754) 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).
• The Bruins were picked third in the MVC Preseason Poll as voted upon by the league's head coaches, media members and communications contacts but garnered a trio of first-place votes. Belmont has finished first or second in its conference each of the last nine seasons.
• After finishing last season 18th in the national mid-major poll, the Bruins are ranked 15th in the preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25^®.
• Belmont annually plays one of the best non-conference schedules in the country and this season is no different. The Bruins take on six, and possibly seven, power conference programs this year. Combined with its MVC slate, Belmont faces no fewer than 10 teams who won 20 or more games last season and goes up against nine programs who finished in the top 100 of the final 2023-24 NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings.
• Additionally, the Bruins will see no less than 12 national postseason teams from a year ago, including six who reached the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

Versus Wichita State

• Saturday afternoon will be only the second-ever meeting between Belmont and the Shockers.
• Last November, the Bruins defeated Wichita State 75-67 at the Curb Event Center behind a trio of double-figure scorers led by sophomore guard Banks' 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Banks added six boards and a game-high five assists while going 2-for-3 from distance.
• Belmont outrebounded the Shockers 42-31, scored 36 points in the paint and drew 25 fouls in last season's victory. Overcoming 21 turnovers, the Bruins went 20-for-24 at the free-throw line.

Against The American

• Belmont is 16-13 all-time versus current American Athletic Conference schools.
• Other than Wichita State, the Bruins' last game against a current member of The American was Nov. 12, 2018, when Belmont cruised to a 78-53 home win over Tulsa.
• Busick competed in The American as a senior at Charlotte, averaging 8.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists against the league.

About the Shockers

• Led by second-year head coach Terry Nooner, the Shockers began their season Monday morning with a 66-52 win over Division II Oklahoma Christian. Wichita State shot only 37 percent (27-of-73) in the victory and was 3-for-16 from three-point range.
• Last season, the Shockers went 10-22 and finished 13th in the then 14-team American with a 5-13 conference record.
• Wichita State was picked 12th out of 13 teams in The American's preseason coaches' poll.
• Graduate 5-foot-5 guard Taylor Jameson, a transfer from George Mason, led all scorers in the Shockers' season opener with 13 points.
• Jayla Murray, a 6-foot forward, registered a double-double in Wichita State's win Monday, scoring 10 and securing 13 rebounds. The Shockers also got 10 points and eight boards from 6-foot-6 Illinois transfer center Aicha Ndour.

Up Next
The Bruins host Kennesaw State Thursday night for their home opener. Tipoff from the Curb in Nashville is slated for 6:30 p.m. Next Sunday, Nov. 17, Belmont welcomes 14th-ranked and defending Big Ten Conference regular season champion Ohio State to the Music City. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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.