MOLINE, Ill. – Composed and determined, the Belmont University women's basketball team pulled out a gritty, 70-65 quarterfinal victory over the University of Illinois Chicago Friday evening in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Vibrant Arena at The MARK in Moline, Illinois. The second-seeded Bruins (25-7, 17-3 MVC) overcame a two-point deficit within the final five minutes of the game and ended the contest on an 11-4 scoring run.
Redshirt junior guard
Tuti Jones provided both the game-tying layup and the go-ahead jumper, before hitting a key three-pointer with 1:19 left that put Belmont up 67-61. Free throws from sophomore guard
Emily La Chapell and junior guard
Kilyn McGuff clinched the win for the Bruins in the final 20 seconds.
The seventh-seeded Flames (18-15, 10-10 MVC) took a 61-59 lead with just under five minutes to go on a three-pointer from reserve guard Krystyna Ellew after beginning the fourth quarter on a 16-4 run. However, Belmont would not be denied a second consecutive berth in the Hoops in the Heartland semifinals.
The Bruins led for the majority of the game and held a 10-point lead with 8:49 remaining.
Belmont began the game red-hot from the field but finished 49.1 percent (26-of-53) overall, 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from distance and 43.5 percent (10-of-23) at the free-throw line. UIC shot 51 percent (26-of-51) and got 46 of its 65 points off the bench.
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Forcing 19 turnovers, including a career-high tying seven steals from Jones, the Bruins scored 17 points off the Flames' miscues. Belmont came up with 11 total steals.
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UIC held a sizable 36-24 advantage on the glass as both squads scored 34 points in the paint.
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The Bruins assisted on 16 of their 26 made field goals.
Belmont started 6-for-6 from the floor and jumped out to a 12-4 lead a little over four minutes in. However, the Flames proceeded to go on an 11-0 run, taking a 15-12 lead on an Ellew layup. Two made flagrant foul free throws from senior guard
Blair Schoenwald started a quick 10-0 Bruin run in two minutes of play as Belmont went back in front 22-15.
UIC scored four points before the end of the first quarter, but the Bruins led 22-19. Belmont shot 69.2 percent (9-of-13) in the opening 10 minutes.
After the Flames extended their run from the first quarter to 8-0 early in the second period to take a 23-22 lead, the Bruins got back-to-back threes from junior forward
Kendal Cheesman and La Chapell. Another Cheesman triple followed by a layup from fellow junior forward
Tessa Miller gave Belmont a 35-29 lead with two minutes left in the half.
The Bruins led 39-35 at the break after both teams shot over 55 percent in the first half. UIC shot 61.5 percent (16-of-26) while Belmont went 16-for-28 (57.1 percent) from the field and 5-for-10 from beyond the arc. Miller led all scorers at the half with 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting.
Scoring the first six points of the second half, the Bruins expanded their lead to 10 at 45-35 on a Cheesman jumper. Schoenwald kept Belmont in front by 10 before the Flames trimmed the lead to five. A Jones triple ignited an 8-3 Bruin run to close the third quarter. McGuff knocked down a three and sunk a free throw on Belmont's next possession to put the Bruins up 55-45 heading into the final stanza.
Holding UIC to only two points in the first five minutes of the second half, Belmont limited the Flames to just four baskets in the third quarter on 25 percent shooting.
Jones scored on a layup following her sixth steal a little over a minute into the fourth quarter to make it 57-47 before UIC began its convincing run. Over the next 3:52 of on-court action, the Flames outscored the Bruins 14-2.
Trailing 61-59 at the 4:30 mark, Jones made a contested layup to even the score at 61. Moments later, she hit a pull-up jumper to give Belmont a lead it would not relinquish.
The Bruins did not allow a UIC bucket for the last 4:57 of the game. Jones' clutch three-pointer to give Belmont a 67-61 lead came as the shot clock expired. Junior forward
Carmyn Harrison set up Jones' dagger with an offensive rebound. Schoenwald also grabbed an important offensive rebound in the closing minute.
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With the Bruins' stingy defense down the stretch, the Flames were only able to get four free throws in the last 30 seconds.
UIC outscored Belmont 20-15 in the fourth quarter on 6-for-9 shooting, but Jones scored nine of her 14 second-half points in the period. Both sides shot 40 percent (10-of-25) in the second half.
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The Flames went 8-for-10 at the charity stripe across the last 20 minutes, while the Bruins were 8-for-21 (38.1 percent) at the foul line in the second half.
Miller scored a team-high 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting and added a team-best five rebounds. Jones totaled 16 points and Cheesman finished with 11 points, four boards and a trio of assists. McGuff tallied nine points, four rebounds and a career-high tying four assists.
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UIC reserve guard Danyel Middleton led all scorers with 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting and the Flames got 13 points from Ellew. Guard/forward Makiyah Williams scored 10 points off the bench for UIC and starting forward Jaida McCloud collected a game-high six rebounds.
Of Note
- With her second steal early in the third quarter, Jones became Belmont's NCAA era career leader in steals. She has amassed 250 steals in a little over three seasons and is fourth all-time in program history.
- The Bruins improve to 4-0 versus the Flames.
- Belmont moves to 2-0 in MVC Tournament quarterfinal matchups.
- Miller has scored in double figures in 26 of 32 games this season and has distributed at least three assists 20 times.
- The Bruins win their 12th game away from the Music City this season.
Up Next
Belmont faces third-seeded Missouri State Saturday afternoon in the MVC Tournament semifinals at 4 p.m. Saturday's Hoops in the Heartland semifinal game will be broadcast on the
The Valley on ESPN, available on
ESPN+.
How to Follow
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