Second-Seeded Bruins Meet Third-Seeded Lady Bears in MVC Tournament Semis

 
MOLINE, Ill. – For the second-straight year the second-seeded Belmont University women's basketball team is in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals. The Bruins (25-7, 17-3 MVC) take on third-seeded Missouri State in the second semifinal Saturday afternoon. Tipoff from Vibrant Arena at The MARK is slated for 4 p.m.
 
The semifinal matchup in the Quad Cities will be broadcast on The Valley on ESPN, available on ESPN+, with Scott Warmann (play-by-play) and Laura Leonard (analyst) on the call. The game can also be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeart Radio with Dr. Rich Tiner providing play-by-play of the action. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Belmont is on a seven-game winning streak, its longest of the season.
• The Bruins improved to 2-0 in MVC Tournament quarterfinal matchups with a gritty, 70-65 victory over seventh-seeded the University of Illinois Chicago Friday evening.
• Including this year's Hoops in the Heartland championship, Belmont has been a top-two seed at its conference tournament for nine-straight seasons.
• The Bruins have won 25 games in a single season for the first time since 2018-19.
• Only nine other programs have also won 20-plus games for nine-straight seasons – UConn, Stanford, Baylor, South Carolina, Iowa, NC State, Indiana, South Dakota State and Florida Gulf Coast.
• Belmont finished MVC play 17-3 for the second consecutive season and earned seven regular season sweeps (Illinois State, Bradley, Evansville, Indiana State, Murray State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois).
• The Bruins are 12-5 away from the Music City and 2-1 in neutral-site games this season.
• Bradley, Drake, Northern Iowa, Missouri State, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 4 Stanford and Missouri are the only teams who have been able to score more than 70 points against Belmont in 2023-24.
• The Bruins have put together at least a five-game winning streak in 12-straight seasons dating back to 2012-13. Belmont entered the 2023 MVC Tournament on a 14-game winning streak.
• The Bruins have held opponents under 65 points 19 times this season and kept teams under 60 points on 13 occasions.
• Leading the Valley in both scoring (62.0 PPG) and field goal percentage (39.4) defense, Belmont limited opponents to 61.0 points per game in MVC action. The Bruins held their opponent under 60 points in nine of their 20 MVC games.
• Belmont won consecutive games by over 40 points for the first time since the 2017-18 season with a 44-point drubbing at Evansville (84-40) on Jan. 12 after walloping Bradley by 42 points (89-47) at home on Jan. 6.
• Head coach Bart Brooks earned his 100th career conference win in only 112 league games on Jan. 6 with the Bruins' lopsided victory over the visiting Braves.
• Two of Belmont's seven losses have been against top-15 opponents – then fourth-ranked Stanford and 13th-ranked Ohio State.
• The Bruins continue to be ranked among the top 20 mid-major programs, checking in at No. 16 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25^®.

 
Bruins in Conference Tournaments

• Belmont has won six of its last eight conference tournaments.
• The Bruins are 21-2 in conference tournaments since 2016 and 6-1 in their last seven conference tournament championship games.
• Coach Brooks has lost only two conference tournament games, going 15-2 with four tournament titles. He is 4-1 in conference tournament championship games.

 
Last Time Out

• Belmont overcame a two-point deficit within the final five minutes against the Flames in the Quad Cities Friday, ending the game 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 the Bruins up 67-61. Free throws from sophomore guard Emily La Chapell and junior guard Kilyn McGuff clinched the win for Belmont in the final 20 seconds.
• UIC took a 61-59 lead with just under five minutes to go on a three after beginning the fourth quarter on a 16-4 run. However, the Bruins would not be denied a second-straight berth in the Hoops in the Heartland semifinals.
• Belmont led for the majority of the contest and held a 10-point lead with 8:49 remaining.
• The Bruins began the game red-hot from the floor 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. The Flames shot 51 percent (26-of-51) and got 46 of their 65 points off the bench.
• Forcing 19 turnovers, including a career-high tying seven steals from Jones, Belmont scored 17 points off UIC's miscues.
• The Bruins came up with 11 total steals and assisted on 16 of their 26 made field goals.
• The Flames held a sizable 36-24 advantage on the glass as both teams scored 34 points in the paint.
• Belmont started 6-for-6 from the floor but went 8-for-21 at the foul line in the second half.
• The Bruins didn't allow a UIC basket for the last 4:57 of action and Jones' clutch three came as the shot clock expired. Junior forward Carmyn Harrison set up Jones' dagger with an offensive board and senior guard Blair Schoenwald also grabbed an important offensive rebound in the closing minute.
• Junior forward Tessa Miller scored a team-high 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting and added a team-best five rebounds. Jones totaled 16 points and junior forward Kendal 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.

 
Another Challenging Non-Conference

• Once again playing one of the most strenuous non-conference schedules in the nation, Belmont went 7-4 with its four losses coming against power conference opponents. Three of the Bruins' four losses were away from Nashville as Belmont went 4-1 at the Curb Event Center.
• Six of the Bruins' 11 non-conference opponents were from power conferences. Five of Belmont's first six games of the season were against power conference programs.
• The Bruins defeated two power conference teams during the non-conference portion of the schedule, routing Southeastern Conference mainstay Georgia 76-50 in Belmont's home opener on Nov. 10 and toppling the Big Ten Conference's Northwestern 83-61 at the Ball Dawgs Classic in Las Vegas on Nov. 24.
• The Bruins own five victories over power conference teams in four seasons. In addition to the Lady Bulldogs and the Wildcats, Belmont has earned wins against Oregon, Ole Miss and Auburn in recent years.
• The Bruins also came within a point of defeating receiving-votes Mississippi State on Sunday, Nov. 19 inside the Curb. A free-throw line jumper by freshman standout guard Jailyn Banks and a putback attempt from McGuff both rimmed off in the final seconds.

 
Player Notes
 
Tessa Miller – All-MVC Second Team
Miller has scored in double figures in 26 of 32 games this season, distributed at least three assists 20 times and surpassed 20 points in half of her last eight outings. She leads the team in scoring (14.5 PPG) and is averaging 6.3 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 broke Belmont's NCAA era career steals record Friday against the Flames with her second steal early in the third quarter. She has accumulated 250 steals in a little over three seasons of play and is fourth all-time in program history, passing Tara Montgomery (244, 1997-01) as the Bruins' NCAA era career leader. Jones is averaging 11.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, a team-best 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game this season and has dished out at least four assists in 22 of 32 games. Scoring a season-high 25 points on 7-for-7 three-point shooting to close out the regular season, Jones hit a deep game-winning three in the waning seconds at Illinois State last Saturday. In the second quarter against the Redbirds on her second triple, Jones became Belmont's 35th 1,000-point scorer.
 
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 42.0 percent (74-of-176) clip from beyond the arc this season, Cheesman has scored in double figures 19 times and recorded multiple blocks on 12 occasions. She is averaging 11.8 points and a team-best 6.4 rebounds per contest. In her first career start, Cheesman erupted for a career-high 28 points on 9-for-15 shooting from outside and collected nine boards as the Bruins 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. 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 Belmont's 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.
 
Kilyn McGuff
Going up against her father's program, McGuff secured a team-high six rebounds versus the Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio. She has scored in double figures in 10 games this season and notched two double-doubles. After recording her first career double-double in the win at Troy with 18 points and 10 boards, McGuff scored a season-best 22 points in the home victory over receiving-votes Middle Tennessee. For those two performances, McGuff captured her first MVC Player of the Week award on Dec. 4. In the 77th Battle of the Boulevard against nearby rival Lipscomb, McGuff had a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with 13 points.
 
Emily La Chapell – MVC All-Newcomer Team
Making her Bruin debut in the MVC opener on Dec. 30 versus UIC, La Chapell has scored in double figures in nine of her first 21 games at Belmont. In just her second game donning the Bruins jersey, La Chapell scored a career-high 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting against Illinois State in the Curb. After spending her freshman year at the BIG EAST Conference's Marquette, La Chapell is averaging 8.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists for Belmont. 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.
 
Among the Toughest Schedules in the Nation

• A total of 14 opponents on the Bruins' schedule had a winning record in 2022-23, while 10 adversaries won 20 or more games last season and 12 made a national postseason tournament last March.
• Belmont's schedule also features six NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago (Georgia, Mississippi State, Stanford, Middle Tennessee, Ohio State, Drake).
• The Bruins' non-conference strength of schedule is currently 39th in the nation, while Belmont's 2023-24 schedule as a whole is among the top 100 most difficult out of 360 total teams.

 
Nothing but NET

• The Bruins have faced eight opponents ranked inside the top 100 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), including No. 4 Stanford and No. 9 Ohio State. Belmont is currently 74th in the NET as the second-highest ranked team from the MVC.
• The Lady Bears enter Saturday with the fifth-best NET ranking in the Valley, sitting just outside the top 100 at No. 113.

 
Storied Success

• The Bruins won their sixth regular season conference championship in seven seasons last year. Belmont has captured nine regular season conference titles in the Bruins' NCAA era. Including the regular season and league tournament, Belmont has won 16 combined conference championships in three different Division I conferences (MVC, OVC and Atlantic Sun Conference).
• The Bruins are one of only 10 teams in the nation to have won 20 or more games for nine-straight seasons.
• Belmont (11) is one of only four programs to have won more than 10 combined conference championships (regular season and tournament) over the last eight seasons. UConn (16), Florida Gulf Coast (13) and South Carolina (11) are the other three.
• Belmont is the only school in the nation to win 20-plus games for nine consecutive seasons in both women's and men's basketball.
• The Bruins have either been ranked or received votes in at least one of the two major national polls eight of the last nine seasons.
• Belmont has won the 17th-most games in NCAA Division I women's basketball history (1,082).

 
Conference Dominance

• Since the 2012-13 season, the Bruins have compiled a remarkable 174-35 (.833) record in league play and won 12 combined championships, including regular season and tournament titles.
• Coach Brooks is a ridiculous 114-15 (.884) in conference action in seven seasons and has never lost more than three league games in a single season.
• Altogether, including conference tournaments, Belmont has gone 198-40 (.832) against league opposition over the last 12 seasons.

 
When it Matters Most

• In February and March, the Bruins have been at their best. Belmont is a stunning 98-15 (.867) in the two key months since 2016.
• Under coach Brooks, the Bruins have gone 78-12 (.867) in February and March.

 
Under Coach Brooks

• In his seventh season at the helm, coach Brooks picked up his 150th win in less than 200 career games with Belmont's 72-68 victory at Troy on Nov. 29.
• Coach Brooks was named to the preseason watch list for the 2024 Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats. Since his arrival in Nashville, he has led the Bruins to a 171-53 (.763) record, four NCAA Tournaments and back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 in 2021 and 2022. The third-fastest head coach to 100 career victories in Division I women's basketball history, Brooks owns an astounding record of 129-17 (.884) against conference opponents, including conference tournament games. He ranks among the top 10 of active Division I head coaches in terms of winning percentage.

 
Bruins in the Valley

• Belmont captured a regular season championship in the Bruins' first year in the MVC in 2022-23. Going 23-12 overall and 17-3 in the Valley, Belmont reached its third-straight conference tournament title game and earned its 10th national postseason berth in 11 seasons with an at-large bid to the WNIT.

 
Versus Missouri State

• Saturday will be the fifth all-time meeting between the Bruins and Missouri State with Belmont holding a 3-1 lead in the series.
• The Bruins won the first three matchups, but the two teams split games during the regular season. Belmont defeated the visiting Lady Bears 66-55 on Jan. 26 in Nashville before Missouri State cruised to a 73-54 win over the Bruins in Springfield, Missouri, on Feb. 9.
• In its February road loss to the Lady Bears, Belmont went 11-for-46 (23.9 percent) from the field and 3-for-20 from distance. It was the Bruins' fewest made field goals in a game since Nov. 30, 2019, against top-10 ranked Maryland.
• Banks scored a game-high 19 points in Belmont's road setback, converting a program-record 17 free throws. The Bruins hit a season-high 29 foul shots on 36 attempts. The game saw 43 combined fouls.
• In Belmont's late January affair with Missouri State, the Bruins led by as much as 22 in the second quarter and held a 38-22 advantage at halftime. After the Lady Bears outscored Belmont 22-9 in the third quarter, the Bruins outpaced Missouri State 19-11 across the final nine-and-a-half minutes of play.
• Belmont outrebounded the Lady Bears 43-32 and outscored Missouri State 38-20 in the paint in the Bruins' home win. Cheesman posted her second consecutive double-double with a game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds.

 
About the Lady Bears

• The Lady Bears (22-8, 15-5 MVC) outlasted sixth-seeded Murray State in a single-point thriller late Friday in the quarterfinals. Junior 5-foot-4 guard Lacy Stokes, the MVC Newcomer of the Year, sunk a game-winning free throw with under two seconds remaining to send Missouri State to its 23rd MVC Tournament semifinals.
• The Lady Bears are making their first MVC Tournament semifinal appearance since 2022.
• Missouri State has a rich basketball history, winning the MVC Tournament a conference-leading 11 times. The Lady Bears have made two Final Fours and are five-time Sweet 16 participants.
• Stokes leads Missouri State with 12.1 points and 4.5 assists per game.
• Junior 6-foot-3 forward Kennedy Taylor, the MVC Sixth Person of the Year, is averaging 10.5 points and a team-best 6.9 rebounds per outing.
• Junior 5-foot-11 forward Indya Green is also averaging double-figure scoring (10.1 PPG), to go along with 6.7 rebounds per contest.
• The Lady Bears do not lead the Valley in any statistical category but are second behind Belmont in scoring defense (63.4 PPG).

 
Up Next
With a semifinal triumph, the Bruins would face either top-seeded Drake or fourth-seeded Northern Iowa in the championship game Sunday afternoon. The Hoops in the Heartland title game Sunday is set for 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN2 and streamed on ESPN+. The MVC regular season champion Bulldogs and the Panthers tip off at 1:30 p.m. in the first semifinal Saturday afternoon.
 
How to Follow
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