Women's Hoops Visits Illinois State Thursday Night

 
NORMAL, Ill. – Playing four of its last six games of the regular season on the road, the Belmont University women's basketball team heads to Illinois State for a Thursday night Missouri Valley Conference matchup. Tipoff from the Redbirds' CEFCU Arena in Normal, Illinois, is set for 6:30 p.m.
 
The weekday game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Kelly Burke (play-by-play) and Alexis Ayala (analyst) on the call. The road contest can also be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio, available online, with Dr. Rich Tiner providing live play-by-play of the action. Live stats can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
Once again, the Bruins have partnered with the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Fans and supporters of the Belmont program are encouraged to make a donation to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund on the Bruins' behalf throughout the month of February by visiting support.kayyow.com/BelmontWBB. Last Saturday, Belmont hosted Drake for its annual Play4Kay pink game bringing awareness to all cancers affecting women.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins dropped both of their two games last week to Drake and Northern Iowa at the Curb Event Center.
• Last Thursday night's 73-61 home loss to the Panthers snapped Belmont's 10-game winning streak and was the Bruins' first setback since Jan. 2 at Missouri State. Belmont had also won seven in a row at home.
• In eight seasons, the Bruins have lost only 16 total games in February and March.
• Belmont has won five straight on the road and is 5-1 away from home in the Valley.
• The Bruins are 7-4 in true road games and 8-6 away from home this season.
• Visiting the Windy City and northwest Indiana during its last road trip, Belmont went 2-0 two weekends ago at the University of Illinois Chicago and Valparaiso. It was the Bruins' fifth consecutive undefeated week in the MVC.
• Belmont has put together a 10-game winning streak in eight of the last 10 seasons and has held at least a seven-game winning streak for 10-straight seasons.
• Five or more Bruins have reached double figures in four different games this season, including last Saturday's home bout with the Bulldogs.
• Belmont has been one of the most balanced scoring teams in the nation this season with at least four players reaching double figures in 13 games. Only Kansas State, Virginia Tech, Ole Miss, Missouri State, South Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Colgate and Western Kentucky have also had four players score in double figures in 12 or more games this season.
• Nine of the Bruins' 12 available players have scored in double figures at least once this season.
• Belmont has held its opponent under 67 points in 15 of its 16 victories this season, including 10 below 60 points.
• On Feb. 1, the Bruins outpaced one of the top offensive teams in the nation in a 96-89 home win over MVC rival Murray State. The combined 185 points between the two teams tied for the third-highest scoring women's game in Curb Event Center history.
• Securing its first Iowa road trip sweep, Belmont earned its first-ever win in Des Moines with a dominant 80-65 victory at Drake on Jan. 16. The Bruins handed the Bulldogs their first MVC loss in nearly a year and snapped Drake's 19-game winning streak against Valley opponents. Belmont became the first MVC team to defeat the Bulldogs inside Drake's Knapp Center since Jan. 11, 2023 (Northern Iowa).
• The Bruins' strength of schedule is currently ranked as the 70th-most difficult in the country according to the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET).
• Facing four top-20 opponents and six power conference teams, Belmont went 5-6 during its strenuous non-conference schedule which ranks as the fourth-toughest in the nation.
• Five players scored in double figures in the Bruins' wire-to-wire battle at 16th-ranked Kentucky on Dec. 20 to close out non-conference play.
• On Nov. 17, Belmont nearly upset top-15 ranked Ohio State inside the Curb in Nashville. The Bruins were knotted up with the Buckeyes at 63 with 30 seconds remaining and held a nine-point, 59-50 lead with just over five minutes to go.
• Belmont's season opener was at 13th-ranked Kansas State on Nov. 7.

Last Time Out

• Despite scoring 52 second-half points, including a 31-point fourth quarter, the Bruins were defeated 88-83 by Drake in the Music City. The 171 combined points made it the fifth-highest scoring women's game in Curb history.

Player Notes
 
Kendal Cheesman

• Senior forward Kendal Cheesman has scored in double figures in seven-straight games and is averaging 18.7 points and 9.6 rebounds over her last seven outings.
• The Tampa, Florida (H.B. Plant HS), native registered her team-best sixth double-double of the season and 11th of her career last Saturday against the Bulldogs with a team-high 19 points and game-high 12 rebounds. Versus Northern Iowa a week ago, Cheesman notched a career-best 30 points on a career-high 12 made field goals.
• Cheesman earned Belmont's second-straight MVC Player of the Week award on Feb. 10 after averaging 17.5 points on 55.6 percent (15-of-27) shooting, 9.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in road victories over the Flames and Beacons.

Tuti Jones

• Earning at least four steals in five of the last nine games, graduate guard Tuti Jones has scored in double figures in 13 of the last 16 outings.
• After recording her first double-double of the season and third of her career in the home win over the Racers with a career-high tying 29 points and season-high 10 rebounds, Jones was named MVC Player of the Week on Feb. 3.
• With four steals in the road triumph at Drake, Jones reached 300 career steals. The Troy, Alabama (Charles Henderson HS), native is one of just 21 active players across all NCAA divisions and one of only 11 at the Division I level with 300 career steals. Already the Bruins' NCAA era career steals leader (324), Jones moved into second place all-time in program history with a pair of steals in the MVC-opening home win over Bradley on Dec. 29.

Jailyn Banks

• Along with Cheesman, sophomore guard Jailyn Banks has scored in double figures in a team-best 17 of 25 games this season.
• Banks has recorded two double-doubles on the season, both against the Panthers of Northern Iowa. She nearly had a triple-double in Belmont's visit to Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Jan. 18 with 16 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high eight assists, before totaling a career-best 11 boards and 10 points at home against the Panthers last Thursday evening in Nashville.
• In both of the Bruins' last two non-conference games against Southeastern Conference opponents (No. 16/15 Kentucky and Mississippi State), Banks tied her career high of 23 points. In fact, all three of Banks' career-high 23-point performances have been against SEC opponents away from home. A native of Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Christian School), Banks also put up 23 points in her collegiate debut at Missouri to begin the 2023-24 season.

Kendall Holmes

• Graduate guard Kendall Holmes scored her 1,000th career point in her hometown in the win at UIC on Feb. 9. The Chicago-area native (Plainfield, Ill.) entered the game needing only one point to reach the career milestone and hit a three-pointer at the 2:05 mark of the first quarter.
• Holmes has reached double figures in 16 of 25 games this season, including scoring a season-high 21 points in the home win over rival Murray State to begin February.
• Following her valiant effort against the nationally-ranked Wildcats in Lexington, Kentucky, Holmes collected Belmont's first weekly conference award of the season by being named MVC Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 23. She posted 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting, including going 4-for-6 from outside the arc, at top-20 ranked Kentucky.

Emily La Chapell

• Junior guard Emily La Chapell led all scorers in the road win at Northern Iowa with 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting as she went 4-for-8 from three-point range. In the Bruins' decisive, 65-52 victory over mid-state foe Middle Tennessee on Dec. 7, La Chapell scored a career-high 26 points on a career-best 12-for-17 shooting.

Sanaa Tripp

• Freshman guard Sanaa Tripp has provided a huge boost off the bench and put up a career-high 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting in the road win at Valparaiso on Feb. 7.

Kensley Feltner

• Sophomore guard Kensley Feltner scored a career-high 11 points in back-to-back games in the home wins over Evansville and Indiana State, Jan. 24-26. In the blowout of the Sycamores, Feltner nearly tallied a double-double with a career-high eight rebounds.

Jacee Busick

• Graduate guard Jacee Busick posted a season-best 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting versus Indiana State on Jan. 26.

Carmyn Harrison

• After averaging 15.5 points on 76.9 percent (10-of-13) shooting, 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals in the Sunshine State against Davidson and receiving-votes Michigan, Harrison was named to the Fort Myers Tip-Off Shell Division All-Tournament Team. The post player from Memphis, Tennessee (Hutchison School), scored at least 13 points in three-straight outings and reached double figures in four of five games from Nov. 14-30.

Hilary Fuller

• Freshman forward Hilary Fuller tied her career high with eight points in seven minutes on the floor last Saturday versus the Bulldogs.

Versus Illinois State

• Thursday will be only the fourth all-time meeting between Belmont and the Redbirds with the Bruins winning both of the last two matchups.
• Belmont defeated Illinois State 72-69 to put a bow on the regular season last March. In the Bruins' first-ever trip to Normal, Jones scored a game-high 25 points on 7-for-7 shooting from three-point range. Becoming Belmont's 35th 1,000-point scorer in the opening quarter, Jones drained a deep wing three with three seconds left to lift the Bruins over the Redbirds. Cheesman provided 23 points on 5-for-9 shooting from outside and secured seven rebounds as Belmont went 14-for-25 (56 percent) from distance.
• On Jan. 4 last year, the Bruins topped Illinois State 64-52 at the Curb. La Chapell and Banks combined for 33 of Belmont's 64 points and the Bruins held the visiting Redbirds to 33.3 percent shooting.
• In the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 15, 2023, eventual MVC regular season co-champion Illinois State claimed a 70-56 win in Nashville.

Up Next
Belmont makes the short trip to rival Murray State Sunday afternoon. Tipoff from the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky, is scheduled for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on The Valley on ESPN, available on ESPN+. Next week, the Bruins host Southern Illinois on Thursday, Feb. 27 and Missouri State on Saturday, March 1.
 
Ticket Info
Flex pack plans for the 2024-25 season, along with single-game tickets, are still available.
 
For more information, visit BelmontBruins.com/Tickets or call 615-460-BALL.
 
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.