Women's Hoops Travels to Bradley Thursday

 
PEORIA, Ill. – The Belmont University women's basketball team begins the final weekend of the regular season Thursday evening at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. Tipoff from Renaissance Coliseum is set for 6 p.m.
 
The Missouri Valley Conference road matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Cody Schindler (play-by-play) and Allison Novak (analyst) on the call. Kinsley Reliford will be reporting from the sideline. 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

• Winners of four straight, the Bruins (22-7, 15-3 MVC) went 2-0 last weekend to wrap up their regular season home slate.
• Belmont cruised past Evansville 80-55 last Sunday afternoon on senior day, picking up its 200th program win inside the Curb Event Center.
• With a win Thursday, the Bruins will clinch the No. 2 seed for the upcoming 2024 MVC Tournament in Moline, Illinois.
• 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 has earned five regular season sweeps (Evansville, Indiana State, Murray State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois) and is looking to complete two more this weekend.
• The Bruins dismissed the Braves (6-23, 2-16 MVC) 89-47 on Jan. 6 in Nashville.
• Belmont is 9-5 away from the Music City and 8-4 in true road games this season.
• Drake, Northern Iowa, Missouri State, No. 2 Stanford, No. 4 Ohio State and Missouri are the only teams who have been able to score more than 70 points against the Bruins in 2023-24.
• Belmont won five straight to begin MVC play and also won five in a row near the end of its non-conference schedule. The Bruins have put together at least a five-game winning streak in 12-straight seasons dating back to 2012-13.
• Belmont has held opponents under 65 points 19 times this season and kept teams under 60 points on 13 occasions.
• Leading the Valley in both scoring (61.3 PPG) and field goal percentage (38.9) defense, the Bruins are limiting opponents to 59.9 points per game through 18 MVC contests. Belmont has held its opponent under 60 points in half of its 18 MVC games.
• The Bruins 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 Belmont's lopsided victory over the visiting Braves.
• Two of the Bruins' seven losses have been against top-15 opponents – then fourth-ranked Stanford and 13th-ranked Ohio State.
• Belmont continues to be ranked among the top 15 mid-major programs, checking in at No. 15 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25^®.

 
Last Time Out

• Preceded by guards Tuti Jones and Blair Schoenwald being honored at midcourt for senior day, the Bruins put together another dominant performance with two 40-point halves Sunday against the Purple Aces.
• For the second consecutive game 10 different Belmont players scored and all 11 available Bruins saw action on the court.
• Belmont led for nearly the entirety of the afternoon and assisted on 21 of 29 made field goals.
• The Bruins were relentless in the interior, owning a 41-29 advantage on the glass and outscoring Evansville 42-28 in the paint.
• Getting 19 points off the bench, Belmont scored 16 points on 15 turnovers by the Purple Aces.
• The Bruins shot 49.2 percent from the field and made eight three-pointers while holding Evansville to 36.8 percent from the floor and 4-for-16 from deep. Belmont shot 53.6 percent in the second half.
• With their defensive intensity, the Bruins made seven blocks and came up with 10 steals.
• The victory clinched a top three seed and a first-round bye for Belmont at the upcoming Hoops in the Heartland tournament in the Quad Cities.
• Junior forward Tessa Miller led all scorers with 24 points on 10-for-12 shooting and added five assists and a pair of blocks.
• Fellow junior forward Kendal Cheesman notched her fifth double-double of the season and her career with 19 points, 10 rebounds, a career-high four assists and three blocks.
• Junior guard Kilyn McGuff nearly earned a double-double of her own with seven points, nine boards and a career-high tying three steals.
• Jones accounted for eight points, a team-best six assists and two steals.

Another Challenging Non-Conference

• Once again playing one of the most strenuous non-conference schedules in the nation, the Bruins went 7-4 with their four losses coming against power conference opponents. Three of Belmont's four losses were away from Nashville as the Bruins went 4-1 at the Curb.
• Six of Belmont's 11 non-conference opponents were from power conferences. Five of the Bruins' first six games of the season were against power conference programs.
• Belmont defeated two power conference teams during the non-conference portion of the schedule, routing Southeastern Conference mainstay Georgia 76-50 in the Bruins' 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.
• Belmont owns five victories over power conference teams in four seasons. In addition to the Lady Bulldogs and the Wildcats, the Bruins have earned wins against Oregon, Ole Miss and Auburn in recent years.
• Belmont 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

• Miller has scored in double figures in 23 of 29 games this season, distributed at least three assists 18 times and surpassed 20 points in three of her last five outings. In the road victory at Murray State on Feb. 25, Miller scored a career-high 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting. During the home win over Northern Iowa on Feb. 15, Miller earned a career-best nine assists. Against the MVC-leading Bulldogs on Feb. 17, Miller recorded her sixth career double-double with 24 points on 11-for-16 shooting, 12 rebounds and five assists. She led all Bruins against the nationally-ranked Buckeyes with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting and scored 19 in the win at Kennesaw State where she knocked down a career-high nine free throws on nine attempts. In Belmont's battle with the top-five ranked Cardinal at the Ball Dawgs Classic in the desert, Miller went 9-for-16 from the floor for 18 points after registering her fifth career double-double in the Bruins' trouncing of Georgia with 17 points and 11 boards. With seven rebounds in the home win over Murray State on Feb. 2, Miller surpassed 500 for her career. She is the first Belmont player to record 500 career rebounds since Ellie Harmeyer Strutz (2015-20) and Maddie Wright (2016-20).
• Off to a sensational start to her collegiate career, Banks has been selected as MVC Freshman of the Week six times this season and was chosen for the conference weekly award three-straight weeks in January (Jan. 9, Jan. 16, Jan. 23). Reaching double figures in 17 of her first 24 games, Banks is second on the team in scoring (12.7 PPG). A native of Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Christian School), Banks tallied 23 points in the season opener at 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. Going 17-for-20 at the foul line against the Lady Bears, Banks broke Belmont's single-game made free throws record of 15, which had been held by Candice Mitchell (1998-02) since Jan. 26, 2002.
• Reaching double-figure scoring in six consecutive games from Jan. 6-26 for the first time in her career, Cheesman has recorded multiple blocks in 12 contests this season. In the home win over Missouri State on Jan. 26, Cheesman claimed her third career and second-straight double-double with a game-best 18 points and 12 boards. Among the top three-point shooters in the nation (41.3 percent), Cheesman shot 46.1 percent (41-of-89) from deep at the Curb this season. She pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds versus fourth-ranked Stanford and scored a game-high 21 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including going 4-for-7 from outside, in the convincing win over Northwestern inside The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada. In her first career start, the home blowout of the SEC's Lady Bulldogs, Cheesman erupted for a career-high 28 points on 9-for-15 three-point shooting and collected nine boards. Her nine three-pointers 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. The Tampa, Florida (H.B. Plant HS), native became the first player since at least 2009-10 to make nine threes and secure nine rebounds against a power conference team. For her performance, Cheesman was selected as Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week (Nov. 14).
• After her true junior season was cut short due to injury last year, Jones returned for the opener against the Tigers and has distributed at least four assists in 20 of 29 games this season. Averaging a team-best 4.1 assists per game, Jones earned her second career double-double versus the Wildcats in Vegas with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists. Against top-15 ranked Ohio State, Jones racked up a game-high five steals before coming up with a season-best six steals at Valparaiso on Feb. 22. The Troy, Alabama (Charles Henderson HS), native has totaled 237 career steals, which is fifth-most in program history. In fact, Jones is second in the Bruins' NCAA era in steals as she ranks behind only Tara Montgomery (244). With 978 career points, Jones needs just 22 more to become Belmont's 35th 1,000-point scorer. Named to the preseason All-MVC Second Team, Jones was the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year and an All-OVC First Team selection as a sophomore in 2021-22.
• 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 on 10 occasions 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.
• In just her second game donning the Bruins jersey on Jan. 4, La Chapell scored a career-high 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting versus Illinois State. She has reached double figures in half of her first 18 games at Belmont, including three of her last four outings. After spending her freshman year at the BIG EAST Conference's Marquette, La Chapell made her Bruin debut in the MVC opener versus the University of Illinois Chicago on Dec. 30.

 
Among the Toughest Schedules in the Nation

• A total of 14 opponents on Belmont's 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.
• The Bruins' schedule also features six NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago (Georgia, Mississippi State, Stanford, Middle Tennessee, Ohio State, Drake).
• Belmont's non-conference strength of schedule is currently 35th in the nation, while the Bruins' 2023-24 schedule as a whole is among the top 100 most difficult out of 360 total teams.

 
Nothing but NET

• Belmont has faced seven opponents ranked inside the top 100 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), including No. 4 Stanford and No. 7 Ohio State. The Bruins are currently 69th in the NET as the highest ranked team from the MVC.
• Bradley enters Thursday with the second-lowest NET ranking in the Valley, sitting at No. 332.

 
Storied Success

• Belmont won its sixth regular season conference championship in seven seasons last year. The Bruins have captured nine regular season conference titles in Belmont's NCAA era. Including the regular season and league tournament, the Bruins have won 16 combined conference championships in three different Division I conferences (MVC, OVC and Atlantic Sun Conference).
• Belmont is one of only 10 teams in the nation to have won 20 or more games for nine-straight seasons.
• The Bruins (11) are one of only three programs to have won more than 10 combined conference championships (regular season and tournament) over the last seven seasons. UConn (14) and Florida Gulf Coast (12) are the other two.
• Belmont is the only school in the nation to win 20-plus games for eight 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 each of the last eight seasons.
• Belmont has won the 17th-most games in NCAA Division I women's basketball history (1,079).

  
Conference Dominance

• Since the 2012-13 season, the Bruins have compiled a remarkable 172-35 (.831) record in league play and won 12 combined championships, including regular season and tournament titles.
• Coach Brooks is a ridiculous 112-15 (.882) in conference action in seven seasons.
• Altogether, including conference tournaments, Belmont has gone 195-40 (.830) 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 95-15 (.864) in the two key months since 2016.
• Under coach Brooks, the Bruins have gone 75-12 (.862) 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 168-53 (.760) 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 126-17 (.881) against conference opponents, including conference tournament games. He ranks among the top 10 of active Division I head coaches in terms of winning percentage.

 
MVC Preseason Poll

• Belmont was picked fourth in the MVC but gained one first-place vote in the preseason predicted order of finish after capturing a regular season championship in the Bruins' first year in the conference 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 Bradley

• Thursday will be just the third all-time meeting between the two schools with the Bruins winning both of the first two meetings.
• Last February, Belmont earned a 68-54 triumph in Peoria. The Bruins outscored the host Braves 38-17 across the second and third quarters and got 11 points from both McGuff and Miller.
• In the early January matchup this year, Belmont limited Bradley to 33.3 percent shooting, including 3-for-16 from beyond the arc. The Bruins shot 45.3 percent and went 12-for-26 from distance and 19-for-24 at the free-throw line.
• Banks scored a game-high 16 against the Braves in the first meeting this season, while sophomore guard Kate Hollifield poured in a career-best 14 points. Cheesman also reached 14 points on 4-for-5 shooting from long range and freshman guard Kensley Feltner tallied nine points.

 
About the Braves

• Led by second-year head coach Kate Popovec-Goss, Bradley has lost eight in a row. The Braves' last win came at Evansville (79-72) on Feb. 3.
• Bradley's only other MVC victory this season was at home against Southern Illinois (58-56) on Jan. 13.
• The Braves won four games during their non-conference schedule, topping Central Michigan (65-62), Elon (66-59), Lindenwood (63-56) and NCAA Division II Quincy (79-73). Bradley also took on Northwestern in non-conference play but was handed an 86-66 road loss.
• Picked to finish 12th in the Valley once again, the Braves went 1-19 in MVC play last season.
• Freshman 5-foot-4 guard Halli Poock, who has three times been named MVC Freshman of the Week, leads Bradley in scoring (14.3 PPG) and assists (2.8 APG).
• Junior 5-foot-8 guard Alex Rouse is averaging 9.1 points per game, while senior 6-foot forward Isis Fitch is averaging 8.3 points and a team-best 6.0 rebounds per outing.

 
Up Next
Belmont closes out the regular season late Saturday afternoon at Illinois State in Normal, Illinois. Tipoff from CEFCU Arena is scheduled for 4 p.m. The regular season finale will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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.