MURRAY, Ky. – The Murray State University women's basketball team has been held under 70 points just twice this season, both of its run-ins with Belmont. The Bruins completed the regular season sweep of the rival Racers Sunday afternoon at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky, with a convincing 76-63 road victory.
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With the win, Belmont (20-7, 13-3 MVC) secures its ninth consecutive 20-win season. Only nine other programs can say the same – UConn, Stanford, Baylor, South Carolina, Iowa, NC State, Indiana, South Dakota State and Florida Gulf Coast.
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Backed by a career-high 25 points from junior forward
Tessa Miller and fellow junior forward
Kendal Cheesman's fourth double-double of the season, the Bruins used a 26-16 fourth quarter to get past Murray State (16-9, 9-7 MVC).
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Belmont trailed for 11 minutes of the contest and faced a deficit as late as the two-minute mark of the third quarter. The Bruins ended the third period on a 9-3 run before putting together a dominant fourth.
Committing a season-low eight turnovers, Belmont took advantage of the Racers' offensive miscues. The Bruins scored 16 points off 13 Murray State turnovers while overcoming a 34-30 shortfall in points in the paint.
Belmont held one of the top shooting teams in the nation to 41.9 percent (26-of-62) from the field and 5-for-19 (26.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Despite making only six three-pointers on 33.3 percent shooting from outside (6-of-18), the Bruins shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) overall and were nearly automatic at the free-throw line. Belmont converted 16 of its 17 free-throw attempts (94.1 percent).
The Racers scored 35 points off the bench and owned a slim margin on the boards (34-31).
Miller went 10-for-19 from the floor and added five rebounds, a team-best four assists and two steals. Cheesman nearly matched her career high with a game-best 13 boards and scored 11 points to go along with two blocks, two assists and a steal.
The Bruins raced out to a 6-0 start as Belmont kept Murray State without a basket for nearly the first three minutes of play. A Miller mid-range jumper kept the Bruins in front by six and redshirt junior guard
Tuti Jones gave Belmont a seven-point lead six minutes in with a triple.
Six-straight Racer points quickly got the home team within one but five consecutive points from Miller, including her sixth career three, pushed the Bruins' lead to 18-12 with under a minute left in the opening quarter. Murray State's Zoe Stewart banked in a running logo three-pointer at the first quarter buzzer.
Miller had half of Belmont's first-quarter points.
The Racers' Stewart completed a 9-0 Murray State run with a jumper three minutes into the second quarter, putting the hosts up 21-18. The two teams would exchange buckets before Cheesman splashed in a corner three and scored on a layup to give the Bruins a 29-25 lead with three minutes to go in the half.
However, the Racers closed the half on a 7-2 run to take a 32-31 advantage into the break.
Murray State outscored Belmont 17-13 in the second quarter. Both squads shot just north of 45 percent in the first half, but the Racers outpaced the Bruins 24-12 in the paint.
A four-point play from Murray State's Hannah McKay gave the Racers their largest lead of the day at 36-31 just 19 seconds into the second half. Murray State remained in front by two possessions before six-straight Belmont points put the Bruins back on top briefly at 39-38.
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After trailing 44-41, a Miller layup made it 45-44 Belmont with 2:20 left in the third quarter. Another Cheesman triple and a layup from sophomore guard
Emily La Chapell before the end of the quarter gave the Bruins a three-point, 50-47 lead heading into the final stanza.
Miller scored 10 of Belmont's 19 points in the third quarter.
The Bruins' high-scoring fourth quarter began early with a Jones conventional three-point play and deep ball giving Belmont a 56-51 lead 90 seconds in. Cheesman connected on her third trey to make it 59-51 before La Chapell completed an and-one layup at the foul line to cap an impressive 14-4 Bruin scoring run over 4:50. La Chapell's free throw midway through the fourth extended Belmont's lead to 11 at 64-53.
Junior forward
Carmyn Harrison and junior guard
Kilyn McGuff both kept the Bruins up by double digits with under four minutes remaining. Harrison scored on a layup and McGuff drained a contested jumper at the shot clock buzzer with three minutes to go, making it 70-60.
A McKay three-pointer would be the Racers' only points in the closing three-and-a-half minutes as free throws from Jones, McGuff and Miller in the last 90 seconds sealed the triumph.
Belmont shot 58.3 percent (7-of-12) in the pivotal fourth quarter. The Bruins were 2-for-4 from outside and a perfect 10-for-10 at the charity stripe. Behind 51.9 percent (14-of-27) shooting, Belmont outscored Murray State 45-31 in the second half. The Racers were held to 38.7 percent (12-of-31) shooting across the final 20 minutes of action.
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Jones finished with 15 points, four rebounds and two steals, while La Chapell posted 11 points and had a pair of boards and a block.
Murray State starting center Katelyn Young, the top scorer in the Missouri Valley Conference, was limited to seven points on 3-for-12 shooting. She did tally a game-high five assists and grabbed a team-best nine rebounds.
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McKay scored 13 to pace the Racers and Murray State got 11 points from reserve guard/forward Ava Learn.
Of Note
- The Bruins have swept three MVC teams this season – Murray State, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois.
- Belmont is 23-4 against the Racers all-time and the Bruins have won 18 of the last 20 meetings dating back to the 2000-01 season.
- Belmont is 9-5 away from the Music City and 8-4 in true road games this season.
- The Bruins have held opponents under 65 points 17 times this season.
- Miller has reached double figures in 21 of 27 games in 2023-24 and has distributed at least three assists 16 times. She has surpassed 20 points in two of her last three outings.
- Jones moved into sole possession of fifth place on Belmont's career steals top-10 list. With 231 steals she is second in the Bruins' NCAA era.
Up Next
Belmont hosts Indiana State and Evansville next weekend to wrap up the home portion of the regular season. The Sycamores visit the Curb Friday for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff before the Purple Aces serve as the Bruins' senior day opponent next Sunday. Both weekend games will be broadcast on
ESPN+.
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