Bruins Host MVC Leader Missouri State for Senior Day Saturday Afternoon

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Wrapping up its home slate of the regular season, the Belmont University women's basketball team welcomes Missouri Valley Conference leader Missouri State to the Curb Event Center Saturday afternoon. The matchup also serves as the Bruins' senior day with tipoff from the Music City scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
Saturday's regular season home finale will be broadcast on The Valley on ESPN, available on ESPN+, with Scott Warmann (play-by-play) and Jacqui Kalin (analyst) on the call. The senior day game 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.
 
Senior Day
Prior to tipoff, graduate guard Jacee Busick, senior forwards Kendal Cheesman and Carmyn Harrison, graduate guard Kendall Holmes, and senior guard Liz Suder will be recognized at center court. Each has contributed their talents and significant time to the Belmont program while pursuing a standard of excellence. Through varying years as Bruins, the quintet has made sacrifices for the team and been instrumental in Belmont's recent success.
 
Red jerseys will be given away to all fans in attendance Saturday, while supplies last, and the Bruins will be available for postgame autographs in the Maddox Grand Atrium.
 
What's Bruin

• Belmont snapped a four-game slide Thursday night with a decisive, 73-43 victory over Southern Illinois inside the Curb. It was the Bruins' second 30-point win of the season.
• With Thursday's triumph, Belmont won its 1,100th game as a program.
• In eight seasons, the Bruins have lost only 18 total games in February and March, including postseason play.
• Belmont is 9-3 at home this season.
• From Jan. 4-Feb. 13, the Bruins won 10 in a row and went undefeated in the Valley for five-straight weeks.
• 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 consecutive seasons.
• Five or more Bruins have reached double figures in four different games this season.
• 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 14 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 16 of its 17 victories this season, including 11 below 60 points.
• Two of the Bruins' top-five highest-scoring games ever played in the Curb have taken place this year. Belmont's thrilling 96-89 win over MVC rival Murray State on Feb. 1 tied for the third-highest scoring women's game in arena history, while the Bruins' 88-83 loss to Drake on Feb. 15 was the fifth-highest scoring women's game in Curb Event Center history.
• Belmont's strength of schedule is currently ranked as the 75th-most difficult in the country according to the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET).
• Facing four top-20 opponents and six power conference teams, the Bruins went 5-6 during their strenuous non-conference schedule, which ranks as the fourth-toughest in the nation.
• Five players scored in double figures in Belmont's wire-to-wire battle at 16th-ranked Kentucky on Dec. 20 to close out non-conference play.
• On Nov. 17, the Bruins nearly upset top-15 ranked Ohio State inside the Curb in the Music City. Belmont was 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.
• The Bruins' season opener was at 13th-ranked Kansas State on Nov. 7.

Last Time Out

• Getting back in the win column, Belmont limited the visiting Salukis to 29.6 percent shooting and only 16 made field goals while coming up with a season-high tying 14 steals and forcing 22 turnovers. The Bruins dominated the paint where Belmont outscored Southern Illinois 42-20 and held a plus-24 advantage on the glass with a season-high 51 rebounds. All 12 available Bruins scored a basket, and eight players tallied five or more points.

Player Notes
 
Kendal Cheesman

• One of only four players in the nation averaging over 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting over 40 percent from behind the arc, Cheesman has registered a team-best eight double-doubles this season.
• Cheesman has scored in double figures for 10-straight games.
• The Tampa, Florida (H.B. Plant HS), native was named Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week Wednesday after averaging 21 points on 63.6 percent (7-of-11) shooting from distance and 13 rebounds in Belmont's road games at Illinois State and Murray State last week.
• Cheesman earned the Bruins' 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 at the University of Illinois Chicago and Valparaiso.
• She is only 47 points from reaching 1,000 for her career and is only 69 points from becoming Belmont's 36th 1,000-point scorer.

Jailyn Banks

• Along with Cheesman, sophomore guard Jailyn Banks has scored in double figures in a team-best 20 of 28 games this season and five consecutive outings. Against the Redbirds last week in Normal, Illinois, Banks recorded her first 20-point performance in MVC play as she went 4-for-7 from beyond the arc.
• Banks has notched two double-doubles on the season, both against 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 versus the Panthers in Nashville on Feb. 13.
• 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 seven times this season, graduate guard Tuti Jones has scored in double figures in 13 of the last 19 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 Jan. 16 road triumph at Drake, Jones reached 300 career steals. The Troy, Alabama (Charles Henderson HS), native is one of just 22 active players across all NCAA divisions and one of only 12 at the Division I level with 300 career steals. Already the Bruins' NCAA era career steals leader (326), 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

• Holmes scored her 1,000th career point in her hometown in the win over the Flames 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 17 of 28 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 over the Beacons on Feb. 7. She snagged a career-high six rebounds in Thursday night's rout of the Salukis.

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 Missouri State

• Saturday afternoon will be the seventh all-time meeting between Belmont and the Lady Bears with the series deadlocked at 3-3.
• After the Bruins won the first three meetings, Missouri State has won the last three matchups.
• Belmont hasn't defeated the Lady Bears since their last trip to the Curb on Jan. 26 last year when the Bruins defeated Missouri State 66-55.
• On Jan. 2, the Lady Bears handed Belmont its first loss in MVC play in a tightly-contested 57-55 affair that came down to the final possession. After the Bruins had numerous chances to tie or take the lead in the last 70 seconds, a Banks' putback layup came just a few tenths of a second too late.
• The two teams met in last year's Hoops in the Heartland semifinals in Moline, Illinois, where third-seeded Missouri State advanced to the MVC Tournament championship game with a 63-48 win.
• Belmont is 2-0 against the Lady Bears in Nashville.

Up Next
The Bruins hit the road next week to close out the regular season, traveling to Indiana State for a Thursday evening matchup in Terre Haute, Indiana, before finishing up at Evansville next Saturday. Tipoff Thursday at the Hulman Center is set for 6 p.m. Both road games will be 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.