Women's Basketball Closes Out Regular Season at Illinois State Saturday

 
NORMAL, Ill. – Wrapping up the regular season, the Belmont University women's basketball team takes on Illinois State at CEFCU Arena in Normal, Illinois, late Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
The Missouri Valley Conference road matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with R.C. McBride (play-by-play) and Jill Hutchison (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

• Winners of five straight, the Bruins (23-7, 16-3 MVC) clinched the No. 2 seed for the upcoming MVC Tournament in Moline, Illinois, with a 77-72 comeback win at Bradley Thursday evening.
• Including this year's Hoops in the Heartland tournament, Belmont has been a top-two seed at its conference tournament for nine-straight seasons.
• 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.
• The Bruins have earned six regular season sweeps (Bradley, Evansville, Indiana State, Murray State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois) and are looking to complete their seventh Saturday afternoon.
• Belmont defeated the Redbirds (20-9, 13-6 MVC) 64-52 on Jan. 4 in Nashville.
• The Bruins are 10-5 away from the Music City and 9-4 in true road games this season.
• Bradley, 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 Belmont in 2023-24.
• The Bruins also won five straight to begin MVC play and won five in a row near the end of their non-conference schedule. Belmont has put together at least a five-game winning streak in 12-straight seasons dating back to 2012-13.
• 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 (61.7 PPG) and field goal percentage (39.1) defense, Belmont is limiting opponents to 60.5 points per game in MVC action. The Bruins have held their opponent under 60 points in nine of their 19 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 15 mid-major programs, checking in at No. 15 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25^®.

 
Last Time Out

• Belmont overcame a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit against Bradley Thursday evening in Peoria, Illinois, outscoring the Braves 22-10 in the final quarter.
• The Bruins scored 42 points in the second half behind inspired play from junior forward Tessa Miller and redshirt junior guard Tuti Jones. Miller scored 17 of her game-best 24 points in the second half, while Jones tallied eight points, came up with three steals and sunk four free throws in the final 20 seconds.
• Belmont led for only 9:19 of the contest and trailed at the end of each of the first three quarters.
• The Bruins assisted on 18 of their 28 baskets, came up with nine steals and made six blocks while committing just 10 turnovers. Belmont outscored Bradley 34-26 in the paint and got 16 points off 13 Brave turnovers.
• Although Bradley went 9-for-19 from beyond the arc, the Bruins held a slim 34-33 margin on the glass.
• Belmont went 8-for-11 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
• An impressive 13-2 Bruin scoring run in the fourth quarter completely changed the game as Belmont took the lead with three minutes remaining. Allowing only one Brave field goal during a nearly seven-and-a-half-minute stretch, Miller evened the score at 66 with a layup before Jones put the Bruins up 68-66.
• Down by five at 66-61 with 5:15 to go, Belmont put together a ferocious 10-2 run that put the Bruins in front with less than two minutes left. A three-pointer from junior guard Kilyn McGuff with 1:53 remaining gave Belmont a 71-68 lead it would not relinquish.
• Miller finished 8-for-11 from the floor and 8-for-11 at the foul line and added six rebounds, a pair of assists and a block.
• Cheesman totaled 18 points on 8-for-15 shooting, a game-high tying seven boards, three assists and a block.
• Jones notched 16 points, four steals, four assists and three rebounds.
• McGuff also snagged seven boards and scored eight.

 
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 Event Center.
• 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, the reigning MVC Player of the Week, has scored in double figures in 24 of 30 games this season, distributed at least three assists 18 times, surpassed 20 points in four of her last six outings and reached 24 points in each of her last two contests. 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 regular season champion 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 the Racers 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. On March 3 in the home dismissal of Evansville, Cheesman registered her fifth double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 boards. Her fourth double-double this year came during the road triumph at Murray State on Feb. 25 with 11 points and 13 rebounds. 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 (41.0 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 21 of 30 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 241 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 994 career points, Jones needs just six 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 nine of her first 19 games at Belmont, including four of her last seven 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 37th in the nation, while the Bruins' 2023-24 schedule as a whole is among the top 101 most difficult out of 360 total teams.

 
Nothing but NET

• Belmont has faced eight 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 73rd in the NET as the second-highest ranked team from the MVC.
• The Redbirds enter the weekend with the sixth-highest NET ranking in the Valley, sitting at No. 118.

 
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 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 each of the last eight seasons.
• Belmont has won the 17th-most games in NCAA Division I women's basketball history (1,080).

 
Conference Dominance

• Since the 2012-13 season, the Bruins have compiled a remarkable 173-35 (.832) record in league play and won 12 combined championships, including regular season and tournament titles.
• Coach Brooks is a ridiculous 113-15 (.883) in conference action in seven seasons.
• Altogether, including conference tournaments, Belmont has gone 196-40 (.831) 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 96-15 (.865) in the two key months since 2016.
• Under coach Brooks, the Bruins have gone 76-12 (.864) 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 169-53 (.761) 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 127-17 (.882) 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 Illinois State

• Saturday will be only the third all-time meeting between the two teams. The two programs split the first two games of the series.
• The Bruins are visiting Normal for the first time.
• Belmont limited Illinois State to 52 points, 33.3 percent shooting and 18 total field goals in its early January home win over the Redbirds. La Chapell led all scorers with 17 points and Banks poured in 16. Miller scored 12 for the Bruins. Twenty-five of Belmont's 64 points came from its bench.
• Last January in Nashville, eventual MVC regular season champion Illinois State defeated the Bruins 70-56. The Redbirds limited Belmont to 4-for-22 shooting from outside the arc. Illinois State hit 10 of its 21 three-point attempts and led 21-4 after one quarter of play.

 
About the Redbirds

• Led by 2022-23 MVC Coach of the Year Kristen Gillespie, the Redbirds are vying for a top-four seed at the 2024 MVC Tournament.
• Illinois State has won six of its last seven and is coming off an 85-75 win over the visiting Racers Thursday night.
• The Redbirds are 13-1 at CEFCU Arena this season and have won 10 straight at home.
• Illinois State leads the conference in three-point shooting percentage (35.1) and ranks ninth nationally in made free throws per game (16.1). The Redbirds are also among national leaders in defensive rebounds per game (29.6) and free-throw percentage (76.8).
• Illinois State has won 20 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2009-10/2010-11.
• Graduate 6-foot-2 forward DeAnna Wilson, a returning All-MVC Second Team selection and preseason All-MVC First Team pick, leads the Redbirds with 14.9 points per outing and is averaging 7.2 rebounds per contest.
• Redshirt senior 5-foot-8 guard Maya Wong, who recently surpassed 1,000 career points, is averaging 11.8 points and a team-best 4.1 assists per game.
• Freshman 5-foot-10 guard Shannon Dowell, the reigning MVC Freshman of the Week, is averaging near double-figure scoring (9.4 PPG).
• Senior 6-foot-2 forward Kate Bullman leads Illinois State on the boards (8.0 RPG).

 
Up Next
The Bruins head to the Quad Cities for Hoops in the Heartland, held at Vibrant Arena at The MARK Thursday-Sunday, March 14-17. With its No. 2 seed, Belmont has earned a first-round bye to the quarterfinals where the Bruins will face either seventh-seeded UIC or 10th-seeded Valparaiso on Friday, March 15 at 6 p.m. The MVC Tournament quarterfinal matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
How to Follow
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