Bruins Host 15th-Ranked Kentucky Sunday Afternoon

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Returning after an eight-day break from game action and continuing its four-game homestand, the Belmont University women's basketball team welcomes 15th-ranked Kentucky to the Curb Event Center Sunday afternoon. Tipoff from the Music City is scheduled for 2 p.m.
 
The Sunday matinee will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Dr. Rich Tiner (play-by-play) and former Bruin forward Ellie Harmeyer Strutz ('20) (analyst) on the call. Landen Secrest will be reporting from the sideline. The game can also be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio, available online. Live stats of the contest can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
Belmont-branded Rubik's Cubes will be given away to all fans in attendance, while supplies last, and the ZOOperstars will be performing at halftime. Following the game, the Bruins will be available for autographs in the Maddox Grand Atrium of the Curb.
 
What's Bruin

• Last week, Belmont (4-5) went 1-1 with a gutsy, 71-65 road victory at mid-state foe Middle Tennessee on Wednesday, Dec. 3 and a 70-58 home loss to receiving-votes Princeton last Saturday.
• Sunday's matchup will be the Bruins' third against a top-15 ranked Southeastern Conference team this season.
• Belmont took on sixth-ranked Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma, in its season opener and challenged 12th-ranked Tennessee on Nov. 13 in Knoxville.
• The Bruins are facing their fifth opponent receiving votes in both national top-25 polls this season. In addition to Princeton, Belmont took on receiving-votes Ohio State in the 2025 Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship in the Bahamas on Nov. 24.
• The Bruins are 2-1 at home this season with an 83-61 win over Brown in their home opener on Nov. 7 and an 80-60 rout of rival Lipscomb in the 79th Battle of the Boulevard on Nov. 19.
• Ninth-year program leader Bart Brooks secured his 200th career victory with Belmont's 72-66 win at Dayton on Sunday, Nov. 16. He reached the career milestone in only 270 games as a head coach.
• 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

• Suffering its lone home loss of the season, Belmont clawed its way back from a 15-point third-quarter deficit and got within three of the Tigers within the opening minute of the fourth quarter. However, Princeton ended the game on a 17-8 scoring run and held the Bruins without a field goal in the closing three-plus minutes.
• The Tigers led for all but a scoreless first 25 seconds.
• Committing seven first-quarter turnovers, Belmont began 3-for-13 from the field, including 0-for-7 from beyond the arc, and found itself down 15-8 after the first period.
• The Bruins used a 19-7 run late in the third quarter into the opening minute of the fourth to get within striking distance.
• Princeton began the second half on a 10-0 run and kept Belmont scoreless through the first 5:52 of the third stanza.
• Sophomores Hilary Fuller and Sanaa Tripp, along with Jones, all scored in double figures. Jones and Fuller combined for 18 of the Bruins' 27 second-half points with Jones going 3-for-4 from deep in the half.
• Forward Fuller matched her career high with 17 points and Jones finished with 13 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists with only one turnover and one foul.
• Guard Tripp posted 12 points, collected five boards and distributed three assists.
• It was Jones' third double-figure scoring game in the last four outings.

1,500 Points and All-Tournament Team Honors

• Jones reached 1,500 career points with her season-high 19-point performance versus now 21st-ranked Ohio State on Monday, Nov. 24 in the Bahamas. She is only the 11th player in Belmont history to reach 1,500 career points.
• The Bruins' NCAA era leader in steals (377) and all-time leader in both games started (145) and games played (146), Jones is third among active career steals leaders across all divisions of college basketball.
• After averaging 17.5 points on 57.9 percent (11-of-19) shooting, including going 8-for-13 (61.5 percent) from distance, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 2.5 assists in Belmont's two games in the Bahamas, Jones was named to the 2025 Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship Goombay Division All-Tournament Team.

From the Bluegrass State

• Guards Kensley Feltner (Louisa, Ky.) and Quinn Eubank (Union, Ky.) are both Kentucky natives.
• Junior Feltner starred at Lawrence County High School, which is about two-and-a-half hours from the University of Kentucky, and is the Bluegrass State's fourth all-time leading scorer. Only the fourth player in the Commonwealth to score 4,000 points, Feltner finished her illustrious varsity career with an impressive 4,189 points. She was a finalist for Kentucky Miss Basketball.
• A product of Ryle High School, which is about an hour-and-a-half north of Lexington, Kentucky, sophomore Eubank nearly averaged a double-double across her prep career. She scored nearly 2,000 points and collected over 1,300 rebounds as one of only six McDonald's All-American Game nominees from the Commonwealth her senior year. Also a Kentucky Miss Basketball finalist, Eubank was selected to play in the prestigious 2024 Kentucky-Ohio All-Star Game.

A Winning Program

• In their 58th season as a program, the Bruins have claimed the 15th-most victories in NCAA Division I women's basketball (1,113).
• Belmont entered 2025-26 with the 30th-best all-time winning percentage (.658).
• The Bruins are 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.
• Belmont's 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 202-73 record. His 73.5 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 in the nation and this season is no different.
• 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-15 teams, including hosting the No. 15/15 Wildcats Sunday after traveling to both No. 6/6 Oklahoma (Nov. 3) and No. 12/12 Tennessee (Nov. 13). In addition to receiving-votes Princeton last weekend, Belmont also hosts Duke, who's receiving votes in the coaches poll, next Saturday, Dec. 20, after facing receiving-votes Ohio State in the Bahamas.
• With Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ohio State, Princeton, Kentucky and Duke, the Bruins face six NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago during their non-conference slate. 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.

Mid-Major Rankings

• Belmont is receiving the most votes of teams not ranked in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll and is ranked 14th in the SB Nation Mid-Major Madness Other Top 25 rankings.

At the Curb

• The Bruins are 116-18 (.866) at home since the start of the 2015-16 season.
• Belmont has a home winning percentage of .751 (214-71) inside the Curb since the arena opened prior to the 2003-04 season.
• Under coach Brooks, the Bruins are an exceptional 92-17 (.844) at the Curb.
• In conference play, Belmont has been even more dominant at home, going 100-14 (.877) since 2012. In his first eight seasons, coach Brooks lost only eight league games at the Curb with a 66-8 (.892) record.
• For four-straight seasons and nine of the last 10, the Bruins have won 10 or more games at the Curb.

Versus Kentucky

• Sunday afternoon will be the eighth all-time meeting between Belmont and Kentucky with the Wildcats holding a 6-1 lead in the series.
• Kentucky has won each of the last six matchups, including a tightly-contested, 84-78 affair in Lexington last December. The Bruins led by six at halftime and led by three with under four minutes to go in the third quarter. After the then 16th-ranked Wildcats built a 12-point lead in the fourth, Belmont worked its way back and was within a possession in the final minute. Graduate guard Kendall Holmes got the Bruins within three at 79-76 with 50 seconds remaining, capping a 13-4 scoring run with her fourth triple. However, Kentucky responded with an Amelia Hassett three and knocked down a pair of free throws in the closing five seconds. The two teams combined for 51 points in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats scored 51 second-half points on 62.5 percent shooting.
• One of Belmont's most memorable NCAA Tournament games was against fourth-seeded and 18th-ranked Kentucky in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament. The 13th-seeded Bruins nearly upset the Wildcats on their home floor on March 17, 2017, but were edged 73-70. After leading at halftime, Belmont came back from down 11 in the third and nearly sent the game into overtime as All-American guard Darby Maggard's would-be tying three went left as time expired.
• The Bruins are hosting Kentucky for the first time since Nov. 22, 1976.
• Belmont's only win over the Wildcats came on Feb. 21, 1976, a 75-60 triumph in Lexington in the two teams' first meeting.

Against the SEC

• The Bruins are 21-51 all-time versus current SEC members.
• Coach Brooks is 4-14 against SEC opponents with recent wins over Georgia, Ole Miss, Auburn and Vanderbilt.

Against the Top 25

• Belmont is 1-38 all-time against nationally-ranked opponents in the Bruins' NCAA era.
• Belmont's lone victory over a top-25 team came in the 2021 NCAA Tournament first round when the 12th-seeded Bruins dismissed 14th-ranked and fifth-seeded Gonzaga 64-59 in San Marcos, Texas, for their first-ever March Madness win.

About the Wildcats

• Kentucky (10-1) has only one blemish on its record, a 74-66 loss to seventh-ranked Maryland in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Nov. 26.
• The Wildcats are coming off an 82-55 home win over Central Michigan last Sunday.
• Boasting the nation's second-best scoring defense, Kentucky is allowing just 49 points per game through its first 11 contests.
• One of the tallest teams in the country, nine of the Wildcats' 12 players are at least six feet tall and eight stand at 6-foot-1 or taller. Kentucky's starting lineup has an average height over 6-foot-2. Senior guard Tonie Morgan (5-foot-9) is the Wildcats' lone starter under 6-foot-1.
• Kentucky leads the nation in blocks (8.4 BPG), is fifth in field-goal percentage defense (.310) and seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.75). The Wildcats are averaging 18.6 assists per game.
• Kentucky also takes 28.1 three-point attempts per outing, the 16th-most in Division I.
• The Wildcats were picked seventh in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll and eighth in the SEC Preseason Media Poll. Last season, Kentucky tied for fourth in the SEC with an 11-5 conference record. Going 23-8 overall, the Wildcats reached the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed, falling in overtime by a point to fifth-seeded Kansas State.
• Six Kentucky players average at least 9.5 points per game, including all five starters.
• Junior 6-foot-5 center Clara Strack, the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year, leads the Wildcats in both scoring (15.2 PPG) and rebounding (10.2 RPG). Her 30 blocks on the season are fourth-most in the country.
• Morgan, a Georgia Tech transfer and two-time All-ACC Second Team performer, leads the nation in total assists (93) and is second among all Division I players in assists per outing (8.5 APG).

Up Next
Belmont begins MVC play Wednesday night with Evansville visiting the Curb. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Next Saturday, Dec. 20, the Bruins host the Atlantic Coast Conference's Duke.
 
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
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