SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Suffering just its second Missouri Valley Conference loss of the season, the Belmont University women's basketball team struggled from the floor in a 73-54 road loss at Missouri State Friday night in Springfield, Missouri. The Bruins (16-6, 9-2 MVC) connected on only 11 of their 46 field goal attempts (23.9 percent) and went 3-for-20 from beyond the arc.
Extending one of the nation's longest active home winning streaks to 13, the Lady Bears (15-5, 9-2 MVC) overcame 18 turnovers and shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) from the field, including 5-for-11 from deep. Behind a boisterous announced crowd of over 3,500 inside Great Southern Bank Arena, Missouri State controlled the pace from the opening tip and owned the interior.
The Lady Bears cleaned up the glass, 42-26, and outscored Belmont 34-12 in the paint.
Drawing 23 fouls, the Bruins knocked down 29 of 36 free throws (80.6 percent). It's the most made free throws in a game for Belmont since March 2, 2019, at Southeast Missouri.
Scoring a game-high 19 points, freshman standout guard
Jailyn Banks went 17-for-20 at the foul line. In doing so, she set the program record for made free throws in a game.
Missouri State turned 16 Bruin turnovers into 17 points and got 23 points from its bench.
Belmont began the game 0-for-6 and never found its offensive rhythm. Scoreless for the opening four-and-a-half minutes, the Bruins found themselves down 12-0 before sophomore guard
Emily La Chapell drained a deep jumper for Belmont's first basket of the evening.
Trailing 21-8 after the first quarter, the Bruins were 1-for-12 from the field through the opening 10 minutes of action.
Paced by reserve forward Kennedy Taylor's seven points, the Lady Bears hit nine of their 16 first-quarter shots.
Both teams went without a field goal for the first four-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter as Belmont completed a 6-0 scoring run with six free throws. La Chapell splashed in a three-pointer to keep the Bruins within seven at 24-17 with just under five minutes to go in the half. However, Missouri State pushed its lead back out to 11 at 35-24 with a little under a minute left before the break.
A traditional three-point play by Banks and a fastbreak layup by junior guard
Kilyn McGuff off an outlet from redshirt junior guard
Tuti Jones ended the second quarter and sent Belmont into the locker room only down 35-29.
The Bruins outscored the Lady Bears 21-14 in the second quarter and held Missouri State to 27.8 percent (5-of-18) shooting. Nearly half of Belmont's field goals for the game were scored in the second period with the Bruins going 5-for-13 (38.5 percent) from the floor.
Belmont was 6-for-25 (24 percent) from the field at the break and 2-for-12 from distance. The Bruins converted 15 of their 17 first-half free throws, while the Lady Bears shot 41.2 percent (14-of-34) in the half and got 11 points from Taylor.
Another fastbreak layup from McGuff off a Jones steal looked like it may ignite Belmont's offense early in the second half, but the Bruins had to settle for free throws on their next possession. Trailing 41-31 two minutes into the second half, Belmont made seven free throws to climb within three. Fouled on a three-point attempt, Banks sunk all of her free throws before junior forward
Tessa Miller made it 41-38 midway through the third quarter.
It would be as close as the Bruins would get the rest of the way. Junior forward
Carmyn Harrison came up with a steal and took it to the rim to keep Belmont within striking distance at 45-40 with just over three minutes remaining in the third. From there, Missouri State went on a 12-3 run to close the quarter.
The Lady Bears took a commanding 57-43 lead into the final stanza after going 6-for-10 in the third quarter. Missouri State was nearly perfect at the free-throw line in the third, going 10-for-11 and outscoring the Bruins 22-14.
Junior forward
Kendal Cheesman hit a triple with 6:30 to go, getting Belmont back within 14 at 62-48 after the Lady Bears blossomed their lead to 19 early in the fourth quarter. Cheesman's three would be one of only three buckets for the Bruins in the fourth as Missouri State proceeded to go on a game-sealing 11-2 run. A layup by the Lady Bears' Jade Masogayo gave the home team a 23-point, 73-50 lead with just 2:41 left.
Missouri State went 2-for-3 from long range in the last quarter and was 6-for-11 overall from the field. The Lady Bears shot 57.1 percent (12-of-21) in the second half and were 12-for-13 at charity stripe, outscoring Belmont 38-25. The Bruins were 1-for-8 from outside in the second half and 5-for-21 (23.8 percent) from the floor. Belmont took advantage of 14 of its 19 second-half foul shots (73.7 percent).
Miller finished with nine points and four rebounds, while La Chapell earned eight points and three boards.
Masogayo scored 13 of her team-best 17 points in the second half for Missouri State and the Lady Bears got 13 points from starting guard Kyrah Daniels. Taylor also tallied 13 points for Missouri State and added six rebounds and five assists. Starting guard Lacy Stokes posted 10 points, six boards and a game-high six assists.
Of Note
- The last time the Bruins had been held under 15 made field goals was during the 2019-20 season at Jacksonville State (Feb. 1, 2020) and versus top-10 ranked Maryland in Daytona Beach, Florida (Nov. 30, 2019).
- The loss is Belmont's first against the two-time Final Four and five-time Sweet 16 participant Lady Bears. The Bruins are 3-1 all-time versus Missouri State.
- Banks breaks Belmont's single-game made free throws record held by Candice Mitchell (1998-02) at 15 since Jan. 26, 2002.
Up Next
The Bruins travel to Southern Illinois Sunday for a 1 p.m. tipoff from the Banterra Center in Carbondale, Illinois. The Sunday matinee will be broadcast on
ESPN+. Next week, Belmont hosts Northern Iowa Thursday and Drake Saturday, Feb. 17.
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.
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