Women's Basketball Makes Short Trek to Murray State Sunday Afternoon

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With four of its last six games of the regular season on the road, the Belmont University women's basketball team heads to Missouri Valley Conference rival Murray State Sunday afternoon for a 2 p.m. tipoff from inside the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
 
The Sunday matinee will be broadcast on The Valley on ESPN, available on ESPN+, with Russ Eisenstein (play-by-play) and Laura Leonard (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 to bring awareness to all cancers affecting women.
 
Sunday's game is a pink out for the host Racers.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins had their five-game road winning streak snapped Thursday night, 66-63, at Illinois State.
• Belmont has lost three-straight conference games for the first time since the 2014-15 season, dropping both of its two games last week to Drake and Northern Iowa at the Curb Event Center.
• Prior to last Thursday night's 73-61 home loss to the Panthers, the Bruins had won 10 in a row and seven straight in Nashville.
• In eight seasons, Belmont has lost only 17 total games in February and March, including postseason play.
• The Bruins are 5-2 on the road in the Valley.
• Belmont is 7-5 in true road games and 8-7 away from home this season.
• Two weekends ago, the Bruins went 2-0 at the University of Illinois Chicago and Valparaiso for their 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. There are only 13 other teams in the nation who 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 68th-most difficult in the country according to the NCAA statistics database.
• 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 according to the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET).
• 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 the Music City. 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

• Trailing by as much as 12 late in the third quarter Thursday against the Redbirds in Normal, Illinois, the Bruins put together a 21-7 scoring run and held a two-point lead with 2:12 left. However, Illinois State scored six-straight points over 90 seconds of play and Belmont was unable to overcome a 64-60 deficit with under 40 seconds remaining. The Bruins had a chance to tie or take the lead at 65-63 with 6.6 seconds to go but a jumper from sophomore guard Jailyn Banks hit the iron and the Redbirds gained possession on the rebound following a jump ball.

Player Notes
 
Kendal Cheesman

• Senior forward Kendal Cheesman has scored in double figures in eight-straight games and is averaging 18.5 points and 10.4 rebounds over her last eight outings.
• The Tampa, Florida (H.B. Plant HS), native registered her second consecutive double-double at Illinois State Thursday night with 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. She has tallied a team-best seven double-doubles this season and 12 over the last two seasons. Versus Northern Iowa last Thursday, 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.

Jailyn Banks

• Along with Cheesman, Banks has scored in double figures in a team-best 18 of 26 games this season. Against the Redbirds Thursday, Banks recorded her first 20-point performance in MVC play as she went 4-for-7 from beyond the arc.
• Banks has recorded two double-doubles on the season, both against the Panthers of Northern Iowa. She nearly had a triple-double in the Bruins' 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 Belmont's 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.

Tuti Jones

• Earning at least four steals in five of the last 10 games, graduate guard Tuti Jones has scored in double figures in 13 of the last 17 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 (325), 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.

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 26 games this season, including scoring a season-high 21 points in the home win over Murray State to begin February.
• Following her valiant effort against the nationally-ranked Wildcats in Lexington, Kentucky, Holmes collected Belmont's first weekly conference honor 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, 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, senior forward Carmyn 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.

Versus Murray State

• Sunday will be the 29th all-time meeting between Belmont and Murray State with the Bruins holding a commanding 24-4 lead in the series.
• Since the two programs joined the MVC prior to the 2022-23 season, the Bruins are 4-1 against the Racers.
• Belmont has won the last four matchups in the conference rivalry and 19 of the last 21 dating back to the 2000-01 season.
• Murray State's last win in the series was Jan. 11, 2023, when the Racers held the Bruins to 46 points in a 64-46 affair in Murray.
• Belmont defeated Murray State 76-63 late last February in the Bruins' last visit to the CFSB Center. Committing only eight turnovers, Belmont shot 49 percent while holding the Racers to 42 percent from the field.
• In the Bruins' thrilling 96-89 win over Murray State to begin the month, Belmont shot a season-high 56.1 percent (32-of-57) and was a season-best 16-for-28 (57.1 percent) from three-point range. The Bruins scored 61 points in the second half, the most in a half in Belmont's NCAA era, and tallied a season-high 33 points in the third quarter alone. For the first time since Dec. 21, 2017, three Bruins reached 20 points in the same game with Jones (29), Cheesman (24) and Holmes (21) combining for 14 of Belmont's 16 threes.
• The Bruins went 14-1 versus the Racers during Belmont's 10-year run in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Up Next
The Bruins host Southern Illinois next Thursday night before welcoming MVC-leader Missouri State to the Curb next Saturday for senior day. Tipoff Thursday from the Music City is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with the Valley home matchup broadcast on ESPN+.
 
Ticket Info
Single-game tickets for the 2024-25 season 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.