Tuti Jones Tabbed MVC Player of the Week

ST. LOUIS – Following a sensational Saturday in Normal, Illinois, Belmont University women's basketball's Tuti Jones has been named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week as announced by the league office late Monday. The redshirt junior guard earns her first conference player of the week award after helping lead the Bruins to two gritty road victories last week to close out the regular season.
 
Jones had quite the afternoon in the Land of Lincoln Saturday, reaching 1,000 career points, scoring a season-high 25 and knocking down the game winner from distance. Going a perfect 7-for-7 from beyond the arc, Jones hit a deep wing three-pointer with three seconds left to lift Belmont over Illinois State (72-69). Her game-winning triple was the third of three clutch three-pointers in the fourth quarter. The Troy, Alabama (Charles Henderson HS), native finished 9-for-17 from the field and added five rebounds, four assists and two steals against the Redbirds. With her second trey at the 6:09 mark of the opening quarter, Jones became the Bruins' 35th 1,000-point scorer.
 
Jones' outstanding performance at Illinois State came on the heels of tallying 16 points, four steals, four assists and three boards Thursday evening in a 77-72 comeback road win at Bradley. For the week, Jones averaged 20.5 points on 48.3 percent (14-of-29) shooting, 4.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals. She went a remarkable 9-for-11 from outside and was 4-for-5 at the free-throw line.
 
Belmont takes a season-best six-game winning streak into the 2024 MVC Tournament.
 
The Bruins return to Illinois this week for the Hoops in the Heartland championship, held at Vibrant Arena at The MARK Thursday-Sunday, March 14-17. Second-seeded Belmont has earned a first-round bye to the quarterfinals and will face either seventh-seeded University of Illinois Chicago or 10th-seeded Valparaiso Friday at 6 p.m. The MVC Tournament quarterfinal matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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