Bruins Take on Second-Seeded Missouri State Saturday Afternoon in MVC Tournament Semis

 
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – For the second consecutive year, the Belmont University women's basketball team will face Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals. The third-seeded Bruins (21-11, 15-5 MVC) take on the second-seeded Lady Bears in the second semifinal of the 2025 Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. inside the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
 
The MVC Tournament semifinal matchup will be broadcast on The Valley on ESPN, available on ESPN+, with Scott Warmann (play-by-play) and Laura Leonard (analyst) on the call. The postseason 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.
 
What's Bruin

• Having won five straight, Belmont defeated sixth-seeded Northern Iowa 64-46 late Friday in the last quarterfinal of the MVC Tournament.
• A perfect 4-0 in March, the Bruins began the month with a 67-61 senior day victory over MVC co-champion Missouri State.
• Belmont has finished in the top three of its conference in 13 of the last 14 seasons, including each of the last 10 seasons.
• The Bruins completed seven undefeated weeks in MVC play, including five consecutive from early January to mid-February.
• Belmont split games during the regular season with the other three MVC Tournament semifinalists.
• The Bruins won their 1,100th game as a program with their 73-43 home win over Southern Illinois on Feb. 27.
• In eight seasons, Belmont has lost only 18 total games in February and March, including postseason play.
• The Bruins are 11-8 away from home this season, including 2-2 in neutral-site games.
• From Jan. 4-Feb. 13, Belmont won 10 in a row.
• The Bruins have put together a 10-game winning streak in eight of the last 10 seasons and have held at least a seven-game winning streak for 10-straight seasons.
• Five or more players have reached double figures in five different games this season.
• Belmont has been one of the most balanced scoring teams in the nation in 2024-25 with at least four players reaching double figures in 14 games. Only 14 other teams in the country 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 70 points in 20 of its 21 victories this season, including 13 below 60 points.
• The Bruins' strength of schedule is currently ranked as the 77th-most difficult in the nation 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 country.
• Two of the Bruins' top-five highest-scoring games ever played in the Curb Event Center took 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 at the Curb.
• 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.

At the Ford Center

• The Bruins are 14-1 all-time inside the Ford Center and won four Ohio Valley Conference Tournament titles inside the arena (2022, 2021, 2019, 2018).
• Belmont has held its opponent under 52 points in each of its last four games at the Ford Center dating back to the Bruins' 2022 OVC Tournament title run.

Bruins in Conference Tournaments

• The Bruins have won six of their last nine conference tournaments.
• Belmont is 22-3 in conference tournaments since 2016 and 6-1 in its last seven conference tournament championship games.
• Eighth-year head coach Bart Brooks has lost only three conference tournament games, going 16-3 with four tournament titles. He is 4-1 in conference tournament championship games.

Last Time Out

• The Bruins held the Panthers to a season-low 16 made field goals on a season-low 26.2 percent (16-of-61) shooting. Belmont kept Northern Iowa without a point in the last 8:08 of the first half, using a 12-0 run to take a 33-18 lead at halftime. Behind senior forward Kendal Cheesman's career-high 18 points, which tied for the fifth-most in a game in MVC Tournament history, the Bruins outrebounded the Panthers 48-34. Cheesman scored nine of her 11 points in the third as Belmont recovered from a 20-8 Northern Iowa start to the second half with a 10-2 run to close the quarter.

Player Notes
 
Senior Forward Kendal Cheesman

• The third Bruin to be named All-MVC First Team.
• The only player in the nation averaging over 12.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 made three-pointers per game while shooting at least 39 percent from behind the arc.
• Averaged a near double-double in MVC action with 14.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
• With five double-doubles in her last eight outings, Cheesman has registered a team-best 10 double-doubles this season. She has earned 15 double-doubles over the last two seasons.
• The Tampa, Florida (H.B. Plant HS), native was named Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week on Feb. 26 and earned Belmont's second-straight MVC Player of the Week award on Feb. 10.
• Cheesman is only 12 points from reaching 1,000 for her career and is only 34 points from becoming the Bruins' 36th 1,000-point scorer.

Sophomore Guard Jailyn Banks

• An All-MVC Third Team selection for the second consecutive year, Banks leads the team in double-figure scoring games – 23 of 32 games this season.
• She has posted four 20-point games and put together her first two career double-doubles against the Panthers of Northern Iowa.
• The Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Chirstian School), native nearly had a triple-double during Belmont's Jan. 18 win in Cedar Falls, Iowa, 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 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. All three of Banks' career-high 23-point performances have been against SEC opponents away from home. She also put up 23 points in her collegiate debut at Missouri to begin the 2023-24 season.

Graduate Guard Tuti Jones

• Garnered All-MVC Third Team, MVC All-Defensive Team and MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team honors for the second-straight year.
• In MVC play, Jones shot 51.5 percent (85-of-165) from the field and a team-best 44 percent (40-of-91) from distance.
• Among the top 60 players in the nation with 71 steals, Jones has tallied at least four steals seven times and scored in double figures in 16 games.
• Named MVC Player of the Week on Feb. 3, Jones recorded a double-double in the home win over the Racers with a career-high 29 points and a season-high 10 rebounds.
• The Troy, Alabama (Charles Henderson HS), native is one of just 25 active players across all NCAA divisions and one of only 12 at the Division I level with 300 career steals. Already Belmont's NCAA era career steals leader (330), 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.
• With 129 career starts and 130 games played, Jones is just 10 games and four starts from the most ever by a Bruin in Belmont's NCAA era.

Graduate Guard Kendall Holmes

• A member of the MVC Scholar-Athlete Third Team, Holmes scored her 1,000th career point in her hometown in the win at the University of Illinois Chicago on Feb. 9.
• The Chicago-area native (Plainfield, Ill.) has reached double figures in 19 of 32 games this season, including scoring a season-high 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting in the home win over Murray State to begin February.
• After her valiant effort against top-20 ranked Kentucky, Holmes collected the Bruins' first weekly conference honor of the season by being named MVC Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 23. She notched 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting, including going 4-for-6 from outside, versus the nationally-ranked Wildcats in Lexington, Kentucky.

Junior Guard Emily La Chapell

• La Chapell has scored in double figures 16 times this season.
• The Appleton, Wisconsin (Appleton East HS), native 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 Belmont's 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.

Sophomore Guard Kensley Feltner

• In her first two career starts last week on the road, Feltner put together career-best performances. She scored 17 second-half points at Indiana State before tallying a career-high 19 points on a career-best 8-for-10 shooting at Evansville. Against the Purple Aces in the regular season finale, Feltner went 4-for-4 from the field in the fourth quarter and finished with a career-high tying eight rebounds.
• A native of Louisa, Kentucky (Lawrence County HS), Feltner has reached double figures in four games.

Freshman Guard Sanaa Tripp

• Providing a huge boost off the bench, Tripp has scored in double figures in road victories at Valparaiso and Indiana State.
• In the road win over the Beacons on Feb. 7, Tripp scored a career-high 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting. Against the Sycamores in Terre Haute, Indiana, last week, Tripp recorded 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds.

Graduate Guard Jacee Busick

• Sensational in last Thursday evening's victory at Indiana State, Busick scored a career-high 18 points on a career-best 8-for-11 shooting.
• In last week's two road wins, Busick went a 11-for-18 (61.1 percent) from the floor and was 5-for-6 from deep.

Senior Forward 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 Memphis, Tennessee (Hutchison School), native scored at least 13 points in three-straight games and reached double figures in four of five outings from Nov. 14-30.

Versus Missouri State

• Saturday afternoon will be the eighth all-time meeting between the Bruins and Missouri State with Belmont holding a slight 4-3 edge in the series.
• After dropping three straight against the Lady Bears, the Bruins began March with a convincing win over Missouri State in Nashville. Banks poured in a game-high 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting, five assists, five rebounds and a steal and Belmont began the second half on an 8-0 run after trailing by a point at the half. The Bruins held the Lady Bears to 38.5 percent shooting and outworked Missouri State 40-38 on the glass while going 11-for-13 at the free-throw line.
• On Jan. 2 in both team's second MVC game of the season, the Lady Bears won a wire-to-wire 57-55 contest in Springfield, Missouri. A Banks would-be tying putback layup came just a few tenths of a second too late.
• Last March in Moline, Illinois, third-seeded Missouri State upset second-seeded Belmont 63-48 as the Bruins were limited to 33.3 percent (16-of-48) shooting, including 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from beyond the arc.

Up Next
The Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament championship game to determine the Valley's NCAA Tournament automatic bid will tip off at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon. The title game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
 
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