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Kilyn_McGuff_WBIT_FirstRound_BallState
Belmont Athletics
77
Winner Belmont BEL 26-8,17-3 MVC
59
Ball St. BSU 28-6,16-2 MAC
Winner
Belmont BEL
26-8,17-3 MVC
77
Final
59
Ball St. BSU
28-6,16-2 MAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Belmont BEL 16 19 24 18 77
Ball St. BSU 14 18 9 18 59

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Bruins Win First-Ever WBIT Game, Down Ball State 77-59

Women’s Basketball Makes History, Earns First National Postseason Victory Since 2022 NCAA Tournament

MUNCIE, Ind. – Behind 50 percent shooting and outstanding defensive play, the Belmont University women's basketball team took out Ball State in the first-ever Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) game late Thursday afternoon in Muncie, Indiana. The Bruins (26-8) hit 11 three-pointers, assisted on 17 of 26 baskets and held the host Cardinals (28-6) to 19 total made field goals inside Worthen Arena to earn their first national postseason victory since the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
 
Leading for all but 1:48 of the WBIT first round matchup, Belmont went up by as much as 24 in the fourth quarter and dominated the entire second half.
 
Ball State was the No. 4 seed in the lower right bracket of the 32-team WBIT.

Holding one of the top-35 three-point shooting teams in the nation to only four threes on 19 attempts (21.1 percent), the Bruins limited the Cardinals to 37.3 percent (19-of-51) overall. Belmont went 14-for-15 (93.3 percent) at the free-throw line and scored 19 points off 16 forced turnovers.
 
Both teams scored 30 points in the paint and the Bruins owned a slim 32-30 margin on the boards.

Belmont earned 11 steals, eight of which came in the first half, and used a 24-9 third quarter to build a double-digit lead.
 
The Bruins went 26-for-52 from the field and were 11-for-24 (45.8 percent) from beyond the arc.
 
Led by junior guard Kilyn McGuff's season-high tying 22 points and senior guard Blair Schoenwald's career-high 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting from distance, Belmont had three double-figure scorers. Redshirt junior guard Tuti Jones scored 13 and tallied a game-best five steals.

A layup from junior forward Tessa Miller gave the Bruins an early five-point lead a little over three minutes in. After Ball State trimmed it to a point, Schoenwald hit her second three to extend Belmont's lead out to six at the 3:45 mark of the opening quarter. McGuff kept the Bruins up by two possessions at 16-12 in the last minute of the first quarter, but the Cardinals got a layup before the end of the period. Belmont began the game 7-for-13 from the floor and 2-for-4 from outside.

A pair of Miller free throws once again gave the Bruins a six-point advantage a little over a minute into the second quarter. Capping an 11-4 start to the quarter, freshman guard Kensley Feltner knocked down a pair of foul shots to put Belmont up 27-18 midway through. Back-to-back triples from Ball State starting point guard Nyla Hampton made it a three-point game at 27-24, but McGuff sunk four-straight free throws following a Cardinal technical foul to push the lead back out to seven.
 
Junior forward Carmyn Harrison scored on an offensive rebound and layup to keep the Bruins in front by seven at 35-28 with just under two minutes to go in the half. However, Ball State scored the last four points of the half to close the gap to 35-32 at the break.
 
Belmont struggled from the floor in the second quarter, going 4-for-13 (30.8 percent) and 1-for-5 from deep.
 
Keeping the Cardinals to 38.5 percent (10-of-26) shooting, including 2-for-10 from long range, the Bruins shot 42.3 percent (11-of-26) in the first half.
 
Belmont could not have asked for a better start to the second half, holding Ball State scoreless for the first five minutes of the third quarter and beginning on a 14-0 run. Sophomore guard Emily La Chapell capped the impressive start with free throws to give the Bruins a commanding 17-point, 49-32 lead. After the Cardinals' Estel Puiggros ended Ball State's scoring drought with a three-pointer at the 4:57 mark of the third, the hosts scored nine points to finish the quarter. It wasn't nearly enough as Belmont matched with 10 points in the closing four-plus minutes to take a promising 59-41 lead into the final stanza. The Bruins shot a sizzling 64.3 percent (9-of-14) in the third quarter and went 4-for-8 from long range. Contrarily, the Cardinals went 3-for-15 (20 percent) from the field and were 1-for-7 from outside.
 
Junior forward Kendal Cheesman connected on a three to give Belmont its first 20-point lead at 65-45 a little over three-and-a-half minutes into the fourth quarter and the Bruins started the final period on an 11-5 run. Schoenwald knocked down her fifth trey with six minutes to go to give Belmont its largest lead of the day at 70-46. With under five minutes left, La Chapell kept the Bruins in front by 24 with two more foul shots. Ball State ended the contest on an 11-5 run.
 
Both squads shot at least 50 percent in the fourth quarter with Belmont going 4-for-7 from behind the arc. The Bruins shot a red-hot 57.7 percent (15-of-26) in the second half and were 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from distance, while the Cardinals were limited to 36-percent (9-of-25) shooting and 2-for-9 from deep.
 
McGuff scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the second half on 6-for-7 shooting.

Cheesman secured a game-high tying eight rebounds and distributed a career-best six assists. McGuff added seven boards and both Miller and La Chapell finished with eight points.
 
Hampton led Ball State with 14 points and the Cardinals got 11 points and a team-high four assists from starting guard Ally Becki. Of Note
  • The win is Belmont's first against Ball State.
  • The Bruins have earned a national postseason win in three of four seasons, reaching the NCAA Tournament Second Round in both 2021 and 2022 with back-to-back No. 5 seed upsets as a No. 12 seed.
  • The victory is Belmont's third all-time versus a current Mid-American Conference program and first since 2013-14 (Kent State).
  • The Bruins avenge last year's 101-86 road loss to the Cardinals in the first round of the 2023 WNIT.
  • Belmont matches its 26-game win total from the 2018-19 season.
  • Jones has scored in double figures in four of her last five games.
  • Miller has dished out at least three assists 21 times this season.

Up Next
The Bruins will take on top-seeded Penn State in the WBIT second round Monday evening in University Park, Pennsylvania. Tipoff from the Bryce Jordan Center is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET.
 
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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