ST. LOUIS – For the second time in four seasons, the Belmont University women's basketball team has been picked as the preseason favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bruins received 25 first-place votes in the 2025-26 MVC Preseason Poll and 446 total voting points from the Valley's head coaches, media members and communications directors.
Announced by the conference office Wednesday morning, only the top four in the MVC Preseason Poll were revealed. Behind Belmont is defending regular season and tournament champion Murray State in second place with 13 first-place votes, followed by Illinois State in third place with a pair of first-place nods and Drake in fourth place with four first-place votes. Voting point totals for all four teams can be found below.
MVC Preseason Poll Top Four
1. Belmont (25) – 446 points
2. Murray State (13) – 436 points
3. Illinois State (2) – 387 points
4. Drake (4) – 371 points
The Bruins were also chosen as MVC preseason favorites prior to their first year in the Valley in 2022-23. Belmont went on to capture the school's first MVC championship in any sport with the Bruins' sixth regular season conference title in seven seasons.
Last year, Belmont went 15-5 in Valley play and tied for third in the final league standings before reaching the MVC Tournament championship game for the second time in three seasons. The Bruins have finished in the top three of its conference in 13 of the last 14 seasons, including each of the last 10. Additionally, Belmont has played in a conference tournament title game eight of the last 10 years.
The Bruins (11) are one of only six programs in the nation to have won 10 or more combined conference championships, regular season and tournament, over the last nine seasons. UConn (18), Florida Gulf Coast (16), South Carolina (13), South Dakota State (11) and Princeton (10) are the other five.
Since the 2012-13 season, Belmont has compiled a remarkable 189-40 (.825) record in conference play and won 12 combined championships, including regular seasons and tournament titles.
Ninth-year head coach
Bart Brooks has gone a ridiculous 129-20 (.866) in conference action over the last eight years and has never lost more than five league games in any given season.
Altogether, including conference tournaments, the Bruins have gone 215-47 (.821) against league opposition across the last 13 seasons.
Belmont's three returning starters – graduate guard
Tuti Jones, junior guard
Jailyn Banks and senior guard
Emily La Chapell – in addition to graduate transfer guard
Avery Strickland (Tennessee/Pittsburgh), were named players to watch by the MVC.
The Bruins return eight total letter winners and feature seven newcomers, including five freshmen –
Rylie Beers (guard),
Kate McGinnis (guard),
Dacarra Ward (forward),
Leah West (forward) and
Tatum Woodson (guard) – and two transfers – Strickland and
KK Brodie (Pepperdine).
A trip to top-10 ranked Oklahoma begins Belmont's 2025-26 campaign on Monday, Nov. 3 and the Bruins start MVC play before Christmas for the first time with Evansville visiting the Curb Event Center on Wednesday, Dec. 17. Belmont's home opener is Friday, Nov. 7 against the Ivy League's Brown University.
The Bruins' regular season will culminate with the 2026 Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament, which will be held for the first time at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, Thursday-Sunday, March 12-15. It marks the 18th-straight year the MVC Tournament will be hosted at a neutral site.
Annually taking on one of the top non-conference schedules in the nation, Belmont will face no fewer than six NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago – at No. 6 Oklahoma (Nov. 3), at No. 8 Tennessee (Nov. 13), versus receiving-votes Ohio State (Nov. 24) in the Bahamas, versus receiving-votes Princeton (Dec. 6), versus No. 24 Kentucky (Dec. 14) and versus No. 7 Duke (Dec. 20). Of those six, five reached at least the second round of the Big Dance and three made it to the Sweet 16 with the Blue Devils continuing on to the Elite Eight.
One of only nine teams in the nation to have won 20-plus games for 10 consecutive seasons, the Bruins went 26-13 in 2024-25 and reached the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) championship game after defeating BIG EAST Conference mainstay Villanova in the semifinals inside historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. During its historic national postseason run, Belmont defeated NCAA Tournament bubble team James Madison by 45 points (90-45) on the road in the WBIT quarterfinals after overcoming a 21-point deficit against Northern Arizona in the second round.
The Bruins have claimed seven national postseason wins over the last five years, earning a national postseason bid in 12 of the last 13 seasons dating back to 2012-13.
Season Tickets
Season tickets, which include all Belmont women's and men's basketball home games, are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting
BelmontBruins.com/Tickets or calling 615-460-BALL. Flex pack plans for the 2025-26 season are also on sale and can be purchased
here.
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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