VALPARAISO, Ind. – Behind five double-figure scorers and a season-high 57.7 percent shooting performance, the Belmont University women's basketball team defeated Valparaiso University 83-56 on the road Thursday night. Collecting their 19th victory of the season, the Bruins (19-7, 12-3 MVC) totaled more than 20 assists for the third-straight game and 10 different players scored at least a basket.
Â
Belmont connected on 30 of its 52 shots and buried 10 of its 23 three-point attempts (43.5 percent), tying its season high with 23 assists.
Â
Surpassing 80 points for the fifth time this season, the Bruins got 30 points from their bench with both sophomore guard
Emily La Chapell and junior forward
Carmyn Harrison reaching double figures. Belmont held a sizable advantage on the glass (37-25) and scored 24 points off 18 Beacon turnovers. The Bruins outpaced Valparaiso 34-28 in the paint.
Â
Junior guard
Kilyn McGuff tallied a team-best 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 4-for-6 from distance, and collected six rebounds. Both junior forward
Tessa Miller and redshirt junior guard
Tuti Jones put together phenomenal stat lines. Miller accounted for 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting, a game-high tying eight boards, five assists and a block, while Jones had 12 points on 3-for-4 shooting from outside, a game-best six assists and season-high six steals.
Â
Going 5-for-6 from the field, La Chapell posted 13 points, four rebounds and two steals. Harrison reached career highs in both points (10) and assists (6), tied her career high in steals (3) and gathered five boards.
Belmont led for nearly 37 minutes of the contest, overcoming a slow start and nine first-quarter turnovers. Limiting the host Beacons (5-19, 4-11 MVC) to 35.1 percent (20-of-57) shooting, including 5-for-27 (18.5 percent) from beyond the arc, the Bruins recovered from an early three-point deficit with a 28-point second quarter.
Â
After McGuff gave Belmont a 3-0 lead 25 seconds in, Valparaiso scored six-straight points to pull in front 6-3. However, the Bruins held the Beacons to a layup for the remainder of the opening quarter as Belmont led 13-8 after the first 10 minutes of play.
The Bruins began 3-for-4 from long range.
Senior guard
Blair Schoenwald hit her second three-pointer nearly two minutes into the second quarter to cap a dominant 18-5 Belmont scoring run going back to the first stanza. Her triple put the Bruins up 21-11.
Â
A McGuff layup kept Belmont ahead by 10 at 30-20 with 4:33 to go in the half, before Valparaiso trimmed the lead to five. The Bruins closed the half on an 11-4 run, leading 41-29 at the break.
Belmont was nearly unstoppable in the second quarter, going 11-for-14 (78.6 percent) from the floor and 4-for-6 from distance while outscoring the Beacons 28-21. Miller earned eight points and four assists in the quarter alone.
Â
The Bruins shot a blistering 64 percent (16-of-25) in the first half and went 7-for-11 (63.6 percent) from three-point range. Jones also had eight points and four helpers across the first 20 minutes of action.
A 10-2 start to the second half in the first five-and-a-half minutes gave Belmont a commanding 20-point lead. Junior forward
Kendal Cheesman sank a jumper to make it 51-31 before a La Chapell layup put the Bruins in front 58-37 with 1:17 to go in the third quarter. McGuff splashed in her third three before the end of the quarter, giving Belmont a 62-41 lead heading into the final period.
The Bruins outscored Valparaiso 21-12 in the third, holding the Beacons to only three made field goals in the quarter on 27.3 percent shooting.
An 11-2 scoring run to begin the fourth quarter gave Belmont its first 30-point advantage of the evening. Harrison came up with a steal and took it three-fourths of the court to make it 73-43 with 6:41 left. A free throw by freshman guard
Kensley Feltner with 3:38 remaining extended the lead to 31 at 79-48, the Bruins' largest of the game.
Valparaiso scored eight of the last 12 points.
Â
Belmont also scored 21 points in the fourth quarter on 61.5 percent (8-of-13) shooting.
The Bruins shot 51.9 percent (14-of-27) in the second half and converted 11 foul shots. The Beacons were 0-for-8 from downtown in the second 20 minutes of play and shot 36 percent (9-of-25) overall from the field.
Jones was responsible for half of Belmont's 12 steals on the night. Junior guard
Liz Suder recorded her first career basket and points in the closing minute. All 11 available Bruins got at least 90 seconds of playing time.
Valparaiso starting guard Leah Earnest led all scorers with 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds and five assists. The Beacons' Jackson twins, Nevaeh and Saniya, added 10 points each.
Of Note
- Belmont improves to 3-0 all-time versus Valparaiso and 2-0 at the Beacons' Athletics-Recreation Center.
- The Bruins are 8-5 away from the Music City and 7-4 in true road games this season.
- Belmont has held opponents under 65 points 16 times this season and kept teams under 60 points on 12 occasions.
- The Bruins have held their opponent under 60 points in eight of their 15 Missouri Valley Conference games.
- Miller has reached double figures in 20 of 26 games this season and distributed at least three assists 15 times.
- Jones has dished out at least four assists in 18 of 26 games this season.
Â
Up Next
Belmont travels to Murray State Sunday afternoon for a matinee matchup in Murray, Kentucky. Tipoff from the CFSB Center is scheduled for 2 p.m. Next weekend, the Bruins host Indiana State (Friday, March 1) and Evansville (Sunday, March 3) to wrap up their regular season home slate.
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
