Five Bruins Earn All-MVC Recognition

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Following another phenomenal regular season, the Belmont University women's basketball team has been recognized with several Missouri Valley Conference individual accolades. Announced by the conference office Wednesday evening at the MVC Women's Basketball Awards Banquet at Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport, Iowa, five different Bruins were named to All-MVC teams.
 
Standout guard Jailyn Banks was selected as MVC Freshman of the Year, while junior forward Tessa Miller earned a spot on the All-MVC Second Team. Redshirt junior guard Tuti Jones was tabbed All-MVC Third Team and was voted onto the MVC All-Defensive Team. Junior forward Kendal Cheesman was chosen for the All-MVC Third Team, along with Banks who was also placed on the MVC All-Freshman Team. Sophomore guard Emily La Chapell claimed MVC All-Newcomer Team honors.
 
A native of Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Christian School), Banks is Belmont's first major award winner since the Bruins joined the Valley prior to the 2022-23 season.
 
All five All-MVC selections have played an integral role in Belmont's success this season. The Bruins have won 24 games in a single season for the first time since 2018-19.
 
Tessa Miller – All-MVC Second Team
A native of Crossville, Tennessee (Stone Memorial HS), Miller has scored in double figures in 25 of 31 games this season, distributed at least three assists 19 times and surpassed 20 points in four of her last seven outings. She leads the team in scoring (14.4 PPG) and is averaging 6.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Remarkably, Miller is one of only two (Adrianna Smith, Maine) forwards or centers in the nation averaging at least 14 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists. In Belmont's road victory at Murray State on Feb. 25, Miller scored a career-high 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting. With seven rebounds in the home win over the Racers on Feb. 2, Miller reached 500 for her career. She is the first Bruin to record 500 career rebounds since Ellie Harmeyer Strutz (2015-20) and Maddie Wright (2016-20).
 
Tuti Jones – All-MVC Third Team, MVC All-Defensive Team
The final MVC Player of the Week of the season, Jones recently crossed the 1,000-point mark and is only two steals shy of breaking Belmont's NCAA era career steals record. She has accumulated 243 steals in a little over three seasons of play and is only one steal from tying Tara Montgomery (244, 1997-01). The Troy, Alabama (Charles Henderson HS), native is averaging 11.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, a team-best 4.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game this season and has dished out at least four assists in 22 of 31 games. Jones scored a season-high 25 points on 7-for-7 three-point shooting to close out the regular season, hitting a deep game-winning three in the waning seconds at Illinois State last Saturday. In the second quarter on her second triple, Jones became the 35th Bruin to reach 1,000 career points.
 
Kendal Cheesman – All-MVC Third Team
Owning a team-high five double-doubles on the year, Cheesman is among the top 25 three-point shooters in the country. Shooting at a 41.8 percent (71-of-170) clip from beyond the arc this season, Cheesman has scored in double figures 18 times and recorded multiple blocks on 12 occasions. She is averaging 11.9 points and a team-best 6.5 rebounds per contest. In her first career start, the Tampa, Florida (H.B. Plant HS), native erupted for a career-high 28 points on 9-for-15 shooting from outside and collected nine boards as Belmont routed Georgia by 26 at home. Her nine threes are tied for the third-most by a NCAA Division I women's basketball player in a game this season and were just one shy of both the single-game program and Curb Event Center record. Cheesman became the first player since at least 2009-10 to make nine triples and secure nine rebounds against a power conference team. For her performance against the Lady Bulldogs, Cheesman was selected as Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week.
 
Jailyn Banks – MVC Freshman of the Year, All-MVC Third Team, MVC All-Freshman Team
Named MVC Freshman of the Week six times during the regular season and chosen for the weekly conference award three-straight weeks in January, Banks reached double figures in 17 of her first 24 collegiate games. Second on the team in scoring (12.7 PPG), Banks is one of only nine freshmen in the nation averaging at least 12.5 points, 3.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game. A native of Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Christian School), Banks tallied 23 points in the season opener at Southeastern Conference member Missouri, the fourth-most by any true freshman this season making her debut. Already etching her name in the Bruins' record book, Banks set the program record for made free throws in a game on Feb. 9 at Missouri State by going 17-for-20 at the foul line. She is averaging 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per outing to go along with her scoring.
 
Emily La Chapell – MVC All-Newcomer Team
Making her Belmont debut in the MVC opener on Dec. 30 versus the University of Illinois Chicago, La Chapell has scored in double figures in nine of her first 20 games as a Bruin. In just her second game donning the Belmont jersey, La Chapell scored a career-high 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting against Illinois State. After spending her freshman year at the BIG EAST Conference's Marquette, the Appleton, Wisconsin (Appleton East HS), native is averaging 8.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists for the Bruins. In three consecutive wins from Feb. 22-March 1, La Chapell reached double figures. She was a BIG EAST All-Freshman Team pick last year.
 
Belmont takes a season-best six-game winning streak into the 2024 MVC Tournament as the No. 2 seed.
 
The Hoops in the Heartland championship, held at Vibrant Arena at The MARK in Moline, Illinois, gets underway Thursday. The second-seeded Bruins have earned a first-round bye to the quarterfinals and will face either seventh-seeded UIC or 10th-seeded Valparaiso Friday at 6 p.m. The MVC Tournament quarterfinal matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
How to Follow
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