Women’s Basketball Heads to the Bahamas, Faces Ohio State Monday Morning

 
NASSAU, Bahamas – In the opening game of the 2025 Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship in Nassau, Bahamas, Monday morning, the Belmont University women's basketball team will take on receiving-votes Ohio State. Tipoff from the Baha Mar Convention, Arts & Entertainment Center is set for 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET.
 
The first game of the Goombay Division will be broadcast on FloCollege with Jonny Wincott (play-by-play) and Ana Bellinghausen (analyst) on the call. A subscription to FloCollege is required. The game can also be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio, available online, with Dr. Rich Tiner providing play-by-play of the action. Live stats of the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship contest can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins (3-2) are fresh off consecutive victories for the first time this season following an 80-60 rout of rival Lipscomb in the 79th Battle of the Boulevard Wednesday evening inside the Curb Event Center.
• Last Sunday, Belmont earned a gritty, 72-66 road victory at Atlantic 10 Conference member Dayton.
• The Bruins got their first win of 2025-26 on Friday, Nov. 7 when they defeated Brown 83-61 in their home opener.
• Ninth-year program leader Bart Brooks secured his 200th career victory with Belmont's win over the Flyers in Dayton, Ohio, on Sunday, Nov. 16. He reached the career milestone in only 270 games as a head coach.
• Two of the Bruins' first four games were against top-15 ranked Southeastern Conference opponents on the road. Belmont took on sixth-ranked Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma, in its season opener and challenged 12th-ranked Tennessee on Thursday, Nov. 13 in Knoxville.
• The Bruins went on a historic national postseason run in the 2025 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT), where they reached the championship game. It was Belmont's deepest national postseason run in any sport.
• For the second time in four seasons, the Bruins were picked as the preseason favorites to win the Missouri Valley Conference. Belmont captured a regular season championship in its first season in the Valley in 2022-23.
• Including last season, the Bruins have reached the MVC Tournament championship game two of the last three years.
• Belmont went 26-13 last season and 15-5 in the MVC, tying for third in the final league standings.
• The Bruins' 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.
• Jones, Banks and La Chapell were the only three players to start all 39 games for Belmont last season.
• The Bruins returned eight total letter winners and welcomed seven newcomers over the summer, including five freshmen – guard Rylie Beers (Littleton, Colo.), guard Kate McGinnis (Kimberly, Wis.), forward Dacarra Ward (Memphis, Tenn.), forward Leah West (Greensburg, Ind.) and guard Tatum Woodson (Minnetonka, Minn.) – and two transfers – Strickland and junior center KK Brodie (Pepperdine).

Last Time Out

• Belmont won its 16th straight in the Battle of the Boulevard rivalry against the Bisons.
• Improving to 15-2 versus Lipscomb in the Curb, the Bruins scored 48 first-half points and built a 30-point lead in the second quarter.
• Belmont went on an incredible 22-0 run in the opening eight minutes and set the tone for the remainder of the game with a 17-0 run in the second quarter. The Bruins led 45-15 with a minute to go in the first half.
• Belmont connected on 12 of its first 19 shots and shot 52.8 percent (19-of-36) in the first half before holding off the Bisons in the second half. Lipscomb outscored the Bruins 40-32 in the second half behind 65.2 percent (15-of-23) shooting, including going 5-for-9 from beyond the arc.
• For the second-straight game, Belmont forced 24 turnovers, which led to 30 points.
• The Bruins were plus-five on the glass (36-31) and got a season-high 34 points off the bench.
• For the second time this season five Belmont players reached double-figure scoring led by Banks and La Chapell's 14-point outings.
• Sophomore guard Sanaa Tripp scored all 12 of her points in the first half on a perfect 5-for-5 from the field. She also came up with a career-best five steals.
• Sophomore forward Hilary Fuller also scored 12 points, while Strickland totaled 10 points.
• Jones distributed a season-high seven assists and collected a season-high six steals.
• Sophomore guard Quinn Eubank grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds.
• The Bruins improved to 53-26 all-time against the Bisons, including 30-9 in Belmont's NCAA era.
• Coach Brooks moved to 8-0 in Battle of the Boulevard games.

Double-Figure Scorers

• Both Banks and Fuller have scored in double figures in all five games this season.
• Banks has scored in double figures for seven consecutive games going back to last season.

Family Ties

• Two of first-year assistant coach Jo Cambridge's three sisters are guards for the Buckeyes. Both Kennedy (redshirt junior) and Jaloni (sophomore) have started all four games for Ohio State this season.
• The elder Cambridge starred down the road from Belmont Boulevard at Vanderbilt where she was a three-time SEC All-Defensive Team selection and set the school record for steals (351). A six-year letter winner, Jo became the only Commodore to ever amass over 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists and 300 steals. During her time at Vanderbilt, Jo earned three degrees, including two Master of Education (M.Ed.) degrees in human development studies (2023) and learning diversity and urban studies (2024). Jo received her bachelor's degree in human and organizational development (2022).
• Three of nine, Jo, Kennedy and Jaloni also have three brothers who played or are playing college basketball – Jalon (Fisk), Desmond (Brown, Nevada, Arizona State) and Devan (Auburn, Arizona State, Texas Tech, UCF).
• Former Bruin guard Kilyn McGuff (2021-24) is the daughter of 13th-year Buckeye head coach Kevin McGuff.

Bruins in MTEs

• Belmont is playing in a prestigious MTE (multi-team event) over Thanksgiving week for the fourth consecutive year.
• Last season, the Bruins participated in the 2024 Elevance Health Fort Myers Tip-Off in the Sunshine State where they defeated Davidson College (69-59) after falling to receiving-votes Michigan (68-58).
• Belmont traveled to Las Vegas in 2023 for the Ball Dawgs Classic and played in the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Florida.
• The Bruins are 25-17 in neutral-site matchups under coach Brooks and 5-7 in MTE games.

On Foreign Land

• Belmont hasn't played in the Caribbean since December of 2013 when the Bruins took part in the Puerto Rico Classic in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• The Bruins haven't played outside the United States, or a U.S. territory, since December of 2007 when Belmont competed in the Caribbean Classic in Cancun, Mexico.
• The Bruins did play in a pair of exhibition games in Rome, Italy, in the summer of 2023 as part of their 10-day European tour in Italy.

A Winning Program

• In its 58th season as a program, Belmont has claimed the 15th-most victories in NCAA Division I women's basketball (1,112).
• The Bruins entered 2025-26 with the 30th-best all-time winning percentage (.658).
• Belmont is one of only nine teams in the nation to have won 20-plus games for 10-straight seasons. UConn, South Carolina, Baylor, Iowa, NC State, Indiana, South Dakota State and Florida Gulf Coast are the others.
• The Bruins' 73.1 winning percentage (226-83) over the previous 10 seasons is the highest of any Division I women's basketball program in the state of Tennessee.
• Belmont is the only school in the nation to win 20-plus games for 10 consecutive seasons in both women's and men's basketball.

A Championship Program

• The Bruins (11) are one of only six programs in the country 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 others.
• Since the 2012-13 season, Belmont has won 12 combined conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles.
• The Bruins have won 16 total conference championships – nine regular season and seven tournament titles – in Belmont's NCAA era.

National Postseason Success

• The Bruins have claimed seven national postseason wins in the last five years, including back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament round of 32 in 2021 and 2022.
• Belmont has earned a national postseason bid in 12 of the last 13 seasons, including six trips to the NCAA Tournament (2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016).
• The Bruins also reached the Big Dance in 2007 after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.
• Belmont has participated in the last two WBITs and the 2023 WNIT.
• Playing into April for the first time in school history, the Bruins rattled off four wins in the 2025 WBIT. After taking out nearby Middle Tennessee in the opening round, Belmont overcame a 21-point deficit against Northern Arizona in the second round. The Bruins then doubled up top-seeded James Madison, who was an NCAA Tournament bubble team and receiving votes in both national polls, by 45 points on the road in the quarterfinals. In the WBIT semifinals inside historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Belmont ousted BIG EAST Conference mainstay Villanova.
• The Bruins' comeback against the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona in the WBIT second round last March tied for the largest deficit overcome to win any NCAA postseason game in Division I women's basketball history.

Conference Dominance

• Belmont has finished in the top three of its conference in 13 of the last 14 seasons, including each of the last 10.
• The Bruins have played in a conference tournament championship game eight of the last 10 years.
• Since the 2012-13 season, Belmont has compiled a remarkable 189-40 (.825) record in conference play.
• Altogether, including conference tournaments, the Bruins have gone 215-47 (.821) against league opponents across the last 13 seasons.

Head Coach Bart Brooks

• For the third-straight year, coach Brooks was named to the preseason watch list for the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats.
• In nine seasons, coach Brooks has compiled a remarkable 201-70 record. His 74.2 winning percentage ranks among the top 20 of active head coaches in Division I women's basketball.
• No other current Division I head coach with eight seasons or fewer under their belt has won more games than coach Brooks.
• Coach Brooks is a ridiculous 129-20 (.866) in conference action with nine combined conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles. He has never lost more than five league games in any given season and has finished no worse than third across two different conferences.
• Including conference tournament games, coach Brooks is an astonishing 146-24 (.859) against conference opponents.
• Over the last eight postseasons, coach Brooks has gone 24-11 (.686).
• In the key months of February and March under coach Brooks' direction, Belmont is 92-19 (.829).
• Coach Brooks was the third-fastest head coach to 100 career victories in Division I women's basketball history (Leon Barmore, Louisiana Tech and Karl Smesko, Florida Gulf Coast).

Challenging the Nation's Best

• Coach Brooks and the Bruins annually play one of the toughest non-conference schedules and this season is no different.
• At least six of Belmont's 11 non-conference opponents are receiving votes in either or both the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 and USA TODAY Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches Poll. The Bruins take on a trio of top-25 teams, including hosting No. 20/18 Kentucky (Dec. 14) after traveling to both No. 6/6 Oklahoma (Nov. 3) and No. 12/12 Tennessee (Nov. 13). Belmont also hosts receiving-votes/No. 24 Duke (Dec. 20) before Christmas.
• The Bruins face no fewer than six NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago during their non-conference slate – Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ohio State, Princeton, Kentucky and Duke. Of those, five reached at least the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament and three made it to the Sweet 16 with the Blue Devils continuing on to the Elite Eight.
• Belmont may also see West Virginia in the Goombay Division championship or consolation game of the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flaming Championship on Wednesday. The Mountaineers are ranked 23rd in the AP Top 25 and 22nd in the USA TODAY Sports/WBCA poll and reached the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament last March.

Mid-Major Rankings

• The Bruins are ranked 11th in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll and are 10th in the SB Nation Mid-Major Madness Other Top 25 rankings.

Versus Ohio State

• Monday marks the third-straight year the Bruins have taken on Ohio State. The two teams played a home-and-home the last two seasons with the Buckeyes winning both games.
• Last year's matchup on Nov. 17 in Nashville went down to the wire with then 12th-ranked Ohio State prevailing, 67-63. Belmont went on a 19-4 second-half run and the game was tied at 63 with 30 seconds remaining. The Bruins held a 50-47 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, but the Buckeyes ended the game on a 17-4 run. Ohio State's Jaloni Cambridge converted a key conventional three-point play in the final 15 seconds to break the tie.
• La Chapell scored 13 points in last year's meeting with the Buckeyes.
• In December of 2023, then 13th-ranked Ohio State won 84-55 in Columbus, Ohio.
• The two teams first met in November of 2015, an 84-56 win for the then seventh-ranked Buckeyes in Ohio.

Against the B1G

• Belmont is 4-19 all-time versus current Big Ten Conference members.
• The Bruins last faced a Big Ten team on April 2 in the 2025 WBIT championship game (Minnesota).
• Belmont owns wins over Big Ten programs Northwestern, Oregon, Indiana and Nebraska.
• The Bruins' last victory against a Big Ten team came on Nov. 24, 2023, when Belmont closed out the 2023 Ball Dawgs Classic in Henderson, Nevada, with an 83-61 triumph over Northwestern.
• For their second-ever NCAA Tournament win in 2022, the 12th-seeded Bruins defeated fifth-seeded Oregon 73-70 in double overtime in the first round in Knoxville, Tennessee.
• Belmont upended the Hoosiers 58-54 on Dec. 4, 2012, in Indiana, and claimed a 77-52 win over the Huskers during the Bruins' 1975-76 national postseason run in the 1976 National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT).

About the Buckeyes

• Ohio State is off to a 3-1 start following a trio of home wins over Coppin State (88-59), Bellarmine (90-33) and Kent State (88-68).
• The Buckeyes lost their lone road game, a 100-68 shellacking at top-ranked UConn.
• Ohio State is receiving votes in both national polls after entering the season ranked 24th in the preseason coaches poll.
• The Buckeyes were picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten by both the conference's head coaches and media members after tying for third in the final league standings last season with a 13-5 record.
• Ohio State went 26-7 overall in 2024-25 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed before bowing out to fifth-seeded Tennessee.
• Sophomore 5-foot-7 guard Jaloni Cambridge, last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year, was named to the preseason watch lists for both the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award. She is averaging 19.2 points on 51 percent shooting, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.2 steals through four games.
• Senior 5-foot-9 guard Chance Gray (14.5 PPG) and senior 6-foot guard T'yana Todd (10.0 PPG), a Boston College transfer, are both averaging double-figure scoring through four games as well.

Up Next
Belmont will face either top-25 West Virginia or McNeese State on Wednesday. The winner of Monday morning's game between the Bruins and the Buckeyes will play at 12:30 p.m. CT/1:30 p.m. ET Wednesday afternoon in the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship Goombay Division championship game, while the consolation game is scheduled for 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET Wednesday. The Mountaineers and the Cowgirls tip off at 12:30 p.m. CT/1:30 p.m. ET Monday afternoon.
 
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.