NORMAN, Okla. – Sophomore guard
Sanaa Tripp nailed a wing three-pointer late in the third quarter to give the Belmont University women's basketball team a three-point, 54-51 lead on the road against the sixth-ranked team in the nation. However, the Bruins (0-1) would be outscored 26-13 in the pivotal fourth quarter as top-10 Oklahoma (1-0) pulled away from Belmont late for an 84-67 win in the season opener Monday evening.
The Bruins outpaced the Sooners 20-12 in the third period, using an impressive 13-0 scoring run to take the lead inside the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
Tripp tied her career high with 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting and fellow sophomore
Hilary Fuller scored a career-best 12.
Belmont worked its way back into the game in the second quarter behind inspired play from junior guard
Jailyn Banks, who finished with a team-high 16 points, three steals and three assists.
After falling behind 14-0, the Bruins went on a 10-2 run to get within six at 16-10 with 3:23 to go in the opening stanza. Belmont began to catch fire from beyond the arc, going 5-for-7 from outside in the first quarter with five different Bruins connecting on the long ball.
Oklahoma led 26-16 after the first 10 minutes of action.
Sophomore guard
Quinn Eubank hit her second three 45 seconds into the second quarter and Tripp kept it a seven-point game with her second triple. Belmont would be no closer than eight the rest of the half, though, as the Sooners put together a 5-0 spurt to go up 13 at 41-28 with just under two minutes before the break.
After the first half of play, Oklahoma led 46-34 behind 51.4 percent (19-of-37) shooting.
Banks had seven of the Bruins' 18 second-quarter points.
Belmont cooled off from distance considerably in the second quarter, going just 2-for-8 from long range.
A Banks three on the Bruins' second possession of the second half got Belmont going before Banks ignited the 13-0 run nearly four minutes into the third quarter. Following a Banks pull-up jumper, senior guard
Emily La Chapell got a layup to go to cut the deficit down to six at 51-45 at the third-quarter media timeout.
On a backdoor pass, Banks found La Chapell to cap an 8-0 run, getting the Bruins within two at 51-49 with four-and-a-half minutes to go in the third quarter. From there, Tripp scored five consecutive points, tying the game with a jumper before her go-ahead wing trey put Belmont up 54-51 with 3:27 left in the third.
Unable to get a shot to fall in the closing three-plus minutes of the quarter, the Bruins saw the Sooners close the third on a 7-0 run. Despite Belmont's strong push, Oklahoma led 58-54 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Banks and Tripp combined for 10 of the Bruins' 20 third-quarter points. Belmont held the Sooners to 4-for-17 (23.5 percent) from the field in the third period.
Free throws from forward Fuller quickly got the Bruins back within two within the first 15 seconds of the fourth quarter. Fuller was then able to poke the ball away from Oklahoma's Raegan Beers and graduate guard
Avery Strickland scored on the runaway layup, evening the score once more at 58-all 30 seconds into the last quarter.
After the Sooners went up four at 62-58, Tripp made a driving layup to hold Belmont within two with 7:44 remaining. Fuller knocked down a three to keep the Bruins within striking distance trailing 70-63 with just under five minutes left, but Oklahoma closed on a 22-4 run.
Belmont shot 30 percent (12-of-40) in the second half, including going 4-for-18 (22.2 percent) in the fourth. The Bruins were 3-for-19 (15.8 percent) from outside in the last 20 minutes and were 1-for-12 from distance in the closing quarter.
Meanwhile, the Sooners went 10-for-17 (58.8 percent) from the field in the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma's Beers scored 15 of her game-high 29 points in the second half and finished 13-for-17 from the floor to go along with 10 rebounds. The Sooners also got a double-double of 11 points and 14 boards from forward Sahara Williams, who had eight points and seven rebounds in the all-important fourth and dished out a game-high six assists.
La Chapell distributed a team-best five assists and snagged six boards.
The top recruit in the 2025 class, Aaliyah Chavez, had 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and a trio of steals for Oklahoma.
Of Note
- Ninth-year head coach Bart Brooks' first game leading Belmont on Nov. 10, 2017, was also at Oklahoma. It was the two teams' only other meeting.
- Freshman guard Rylie Beers is the younger sister of All-American center Raegan Beers.
- The Bruins have faced a top-25 opponent on the road in five of their last nine season openers.
- Oklahoma is ranked No. 6 in the preseason Associated Press (AP) Top 25 and No. 7 in the preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
- Belmont drops to 1-37 all-time against nationally-ranked opponents in the Bruins' NCAA era and 21-50 against current Southeastern Conference members.
Up Next
The Bruins host Brown University Friday night for their home opener. Tipoff from the Curb Event Center in the Music City is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on
ESPN+ and Belmont basketball t-shirts will be given away to fans in attendance.
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.
#ItsBruinTime
