CARBONDALE, Ill. – Bouncing back from Friday night's setback at Missouri State, the Belmont University women's basketball team earned a hard-fought, physical 65-55 road victory over Southern Illinois University Sunday afternoon. Claiming their first regular season sweep of the year, the Bruins (17-6, 10-2 MVC) got off to a red-hot start inside the Banterra Center in Carbondale, Illinois, before going a perfect 17-for-17 at the free-throw line in the second half.
Â
Behind four double-figure scorers, Belmont overcame a season-high 27 turnovers and led for all but the scoreless opening 18 seconds.
The Bruins quickly built a 13-point lead in the first quarter and held the Salukis (7-15, 2-10 MVC) to 34.9 percent (22-of-63) shooting for the game. Owning a slim advantage on the glass (37-35), Belmont scored 16 second-chance points on 12 offensive boards.
All of the Bruins' scoring came from their starting cast with junior guard
Kilyn McGuff totaling a team-high 18 points on 5-for-9 shooting. Going 6-for-6 at the foul line, McGuff scored 13 second-half points and made a pair of key plays in crucial moments.
Â
Southern Illinois used a strong second quarter to keep Belmont from further distancing itself. The Salukis outpaced the Bruins 17-11 in the second period to climb within a possession by halftime.
Â
Scoring 20 points off Belmont's 27 offensive miscues, Southern Illinois controlled the paint where the Salukis tallied 32 points compared to the Bruins' 20.
Â
Eight of Belmont's 20 made field goals came from beyond the arc as the Bruins shot 39.2 percent (20-of-51) from the field and assisted on 16 of their baskets. Redshirt junior guard
Tuti Jones, McGuff and junior forward
Kendal Cheesman accounted for seven of Belmont's eight three-point makes.
The Bruins could not have asked for a better start on offense, beginning 7-for-7 from the floor and 5-for-5 from deep. A second three from Cheesman put Belmont up 19-6 and forced a Southern Illinois timeout a little over four-and-a-half minutes in.
After shooting 80 percent (8-of-10) in the first quarter, the Bruins led 21-12.
Cheesman scored on a layup early in the second quarter to keep Belmont in front by nine, but five consecutive Saluki points got the home team within four at 23-19 not even two minutes into the second stanza. A three-pointer by Southern Illinois' Paige Clubb trimmed the deficit to three at 25-22 with 4:16 left in the half.
Â
A Jones trey, along with layups from freshman standout guard
Jailyn Banks and junior forward
Tessa Miller, pushed the Bruins' lead back out to eight at 32-24 with just over a minute before the break. The Salukis scored the last five points of the half to make it 32-29 at intermission.
Belmont was just 1-for-8 from distance in the second quarter as Southern Illinois connected on seven of its 14 field goal attempts. The Bruins shot 54.2 percent (13-of-24) in the first half and went 6-for-15 from outside.
The Salukis' Jaidynn Mason hit a jumper 20 seconds into the second half to make it a one-point contest at 32-31. Jones responded with a triple to settle down Southern Illinois' momentum, but the Salukis continued to hang around. A Mason layup kept Southern Illinois within two midway through the third quarter before Belmont earned six-straight free throws to extend the lead to 47-39.
In the final two minutes of the third, the Salukis once again made a push following a Mason steal and layup. However, the Bruins would end the quarter on a 6-1 spurt thanks to a McGuff four-point play in the closing 10 seconds. Nailing a deep wing three, McGuff was fouled and converted her free throw to give Belmont a nine-point, 53-44 advantage heading into the last quarter of play.
Despite going 3-for-12 from the field in the third quarter, the Bruins were 13-for-13 at the charity stripe.
Miller set the tone in the pivotal fourth, grabbing an offensive rebound and completing an old-fashioned three-point play a little over a minute into the quarter to put Belmont up 56-44. After Southern Illinois went on a 6-0 run, McGuff received a backdoor pass from Miller and finished through contact. With her free throw McGuff made it a nine-point game at 59-50 with 5:53 remaining. McGuff came up with a steal on the ensuing defensive possession before snagging an offensive rebound and putting it back up to make it 61-50 with just under five minutes left.
At the 4:38 mark the Salukis' Laniah Randle made a jumper, but it would be Southern Illinois' last field goal of the day. The Salukis got back within seven at 61-54 with just over four minutes to go courtesy of Mason and Randle free throws before the Bruins closed things out.
Â
A Miller layup and Banks free throws in the final four minutes sealed the triumph.
The two teams combined for only eight made field goals in the fourth quarter and were a combined 0-for-8 from long range.
Â
Although Belmont put together a superb free-throw performance in the second half, the Bruins shot 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from the field and were 2-for-12 from behind the arc. Belmont kept Southern Illinois to 29.4 percent (10-of-34) second-half shooting, including 0-for-8 from three-point range.
McGuff added a trio of rebounds, a block and a steal to her 18 points, while Banks finished with 15 points on 6-for-6 free-throw shooting, a team-high tying five assists, five boards and two steals. Miller notched 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Jones scored 11 points with a trio of threes, six boards, five assists and a pair of steals. Cheesman also collected six rebounds to go along with eight points, two assists and a steal.
Â
Mason led the Salukis with a game-best 19 points, six assists and five steals. Southern Illinois also got 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds from Randle.
Â
Of Note
- The Bruins improve to 6-0 all-time versus the Salukis, including 5-0 since joining the Missouri Valley Conference.
- Belmont has held opponents under 65 points 15 times this season and kept teams under 60 points on 11 occasions.
- The Bruins have held their opponents under 60 points in over half of their 12 MVC games.
- Banks has scored in double figures in 17 of her first 23 games.
- Miller has also reached double figures in 17 of 23 games this season.
Â
Up Next
Belmont returns to the Music City next week to host Northern Iowa Thursday and defending MVC Tournament champion Drake Saturday. Tipoff Thursday versus the Panthers is slated for 6:30 p.m. from the Curb Event Center. The weekday matchup will be broadcast on
ESPN+.
How to Follow
Follow Belmont women's basketball on social media -Â
@BelmontWBBÂ on X, formerly Twitter,Â
@belmontwbb on Instagram andÂ
Belmont Women's Basketball on Facebook - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via theÂ
official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
Â
#ItsBruinTime
Â
