Women's Basketball Heads Down Belmont Boulevard to Play Lipscomb Wednesday Evening

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Returning to the Music City, the Belmont University women's basketball team makes the short trip down Belmont Boulevard Wednesday evening to take on nearby rival Lipscomb in the 78th Battle of the Boulevard. Tipoff from Allen Arena in Nashville is slated for 6 p.m.
 
The well-documented rivalry game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Jonathan Seamon (play-by-play) and Justin Seamon (analyst) on the call. The 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 three consecutive games against power conference opponents who are now nationally ranked, the Bruins (3-4) closed out their Thanksgiving week in the Sunshine State this past Saturday with a convincing 69-59 win over Davidson College in the 2024 Elevance Health Fort Myers Tip-Off Shell Division third-place game.
• Belmont led from the 6:33 mark of the opening quarter onward versus the Wildcats Saturday in Florida and shot a season-high 50 percent (26-of-52) from the field.
• Four different Bruins reached double figures against Davidson led by senior forward Carmyn Harrison's career-high 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting and team-best eight rebounds. Belmont scored 39 first-half points behind 58.6 percent (17-of-29) shooting and began 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.
• With Harrison dominating in the trenches, the Bruins scored 44 of their points in the paint in the win over the Wildcats. Belmont also forced 18 Davidson turnovers and turned the Wildcats' miscues into 27 points.
• In addition to Harrison, sophomore guard Jailyn Banks (15), junior guard Emily La Chapell (14) and graduate guard Kendall Holmes (10) also reached double figures against Davidson.
• Freshman guard Sanaa Tripp earned her first multi-basket game over the weekend in the matchup with the Wildcats.
• Saturday's victory snapped the Bruins' three-game slide.
• Belmont is going for back-to-back wins for the second time this season after earning a 75-55 triumph at Wichita State (Nov. 9) and defeating Kennesaw State 75-47 in its home opener on Nov. 14.
• After averaging 15.5 points on 76.9 percent (10-of-13) shooting, 7.0 rebounds. 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals for the week against Davidson and receiving-votes Michigan, Harrison was named to the Fort Myers Tip-Off Shell Division All-Tournament Team.
• Harrison has scored at least 13 points in three-straight outings and reached double figures in four of her last five games.
• On Sunday, Nov. 17, the Bruins nearly upset top-15 ranked Ohio State inside the Curb Event Center in Nashville. Belmont was knotted up with the Buckeyes at 63 with 30 seconds remaining and held a nine-point, 59-50 lead with just over five minutes to go.
• The Bruins' season opener was at 13th-ranked Kansas State on Thursday, Nov. 7.

Early Tests Against Some of the Nation's Best

• Belmont went 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 No. 13/13 K-State, the Bruins hosted now No. 12/7 Ohio State and traveled to now No. 8/9 Duke on Nov. 21. Later in the season on Dec. 20, Belmont heads to No. 14/16 Kentucky.

 Nothing but NET

• With the first NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings of the 2024-25 season released Monday, the Bruins sit at No. 71.
• Last season, Belmont finished 71st in the NET.
• All four of the Bruins' losses this season have been against teams ranked in the top 20 of the NET.
• Belmont owns the third-highest NET ranking in the 12-team Missouri Valley Conference with No. 58 Murray State leading the league followed by No. 60 Northern Iowa.
• Lipscomb is ranked 166th in the NET.

 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 (1,086).
• 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 are ranked 23rd in the fourth 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 MVC 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 graduate guard Tuti Jones, senior forward Kendal Cheesman and 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 seven games, Holmes leads the Bruins in scoring (11.4 PPG).
• Over the summer, Belmont also welcomed a trio of talented freshmen with guard Quinn Eubank (Union, Ky.), forward Hilary Fuller (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) and 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 175-59 (.748) 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 is 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. Six of Belmont's 11 non-conference opponents this year are from power conferences. Combined with their MVC slate, the Bruins face 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 NET rankings.
• Additionally, Belmont will see 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.

 Battle of the Boulevard History

• Belmont is 51-26 all-time versus the rival Bisons and the Bruins own a commanding 28-9 lead in the series since joining the NCAA ranks (1996-97).
• Belmont has won the last 14 Battle of the Boulevard games dating back to January of 2011.
• On Jan. 27, 2011, Lipscomb got its last win versus the Bruins with a 73-59 victory at the opposite end of Belmont Boulevard.
• The two teams first met during the 1979-80 season and Belmont emerged victorious, 77-65.
• The Bruins and Bisons were conference adversaries in the Atlantic Sun Conference for nine seasons from 2003-12.
• Coach Brooks is a perfect 6-0 against Lipscomb.
• Last December, Belmont routed the Bisons 70-51 at the Curb behind four double-figure scorers and 52 percent shooting. The Bruins outrebounded Lipscomb 43-25 and scored 42 points in the paint.
• Banks led Belmont last year in the win over the Bisons with 16 points and Jones scored 13 on 6-for-11 shooting.

About the Bisons

• Lipscomb is off to a 6-2 start under the direction of sixth-year head coach Lauren Sumski.
• The Bisons' only two losses have been to receiving-votes Vanderbilt (102-50) and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (66-60).
• Lipscomb is coming off a nine-day break from game action following its loss at Chattanooga on Monday, Nov. 25.
• The Bisons' last home game was on Saturday, Nov. 23 when Lipscomb defeated fellow MVC member Evansville 86-79.
• Six of the Bisons' first nine games of the season are at home and Lipscomb is 5-0 inside Allen Arena thus far.
• Last year, the Bisons went 17-13 overall and 10-6 in the ASUN. Lipscomb finished fourth in the conference but was bounced by fifth-seeded Eastern Kentucky in its opening game of the ASUN Tournament.
• The Bisons were picked to finish third in the ASUN this season by both the league's head coaches and media members.
• Senior 5-foot-7 guard Claira McGowan, who leads Lipscomb in scoring through eight games (12.3 PPG), was an All-ASUN Second Team selection last year and landed a spot on the 2024-25 Preseason All-ASUN Team.
• Junior 6-foot guard Molly Heard, who earned Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week honors last week after scoring 32 points in the win over Evansville, is also averaging double-figure scoring (11.5 PPG), along with senior 6-foot-2 guard/forward Bella Vinson (11.6 PPG). In 2022-23, Vinson led the Bisons in scoring (13.9 PPG) en route to All-ASUN First Team honors.
• Graduate 5-foot-9 guard Jalyn Holcomb, a 2022-23 All-ASUN Third Team performer and the 2019-20 ASUN Freshman of the Year, is averaging 9.3 points through eight outings.
• Junior 5-foot-6 guard Ainhoa Cea leads Lipscomb in both assists (4.6 APG) and rebounds (5.9 RPG) following the Bisons' first eight contests.

 Up Next
The Bruins return to the friendly confines of the Curb Saturday for a matinee matchup with Middle Tennessee. Tipoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. with the Belmont men versus the Blue Raiders to follow. The game between two of the top mid-major teams in the nation 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.