Bruins Begin National Postseason Quest Thursday Night in WBIT Opening Round at the Curb

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In the first-ever national postseason game the Belmont University women's basketball team has hosted as a NCAA Division I member, the Bruins welcome familiar mid-state opponent Middle Tennessee to the Curb Event Center Thursday night for the opening round of the 2025 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT). Tipoff of the first-round game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
 
The national postseason matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Dr. Rich Tiner (play-by-play) and Carter Gledhill (analyst) on the call. Landen Secrest will be reporting from the sideline. Live stats of the game can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
The first 200 Belmont students who arrive outside the Maddox Grand Atrium beginning at 5:30 p.m. Thursday will receive a complimentary ticket to the game.

?? HC @BartABrooks and senior forward @KendalCheesman preview Thursday night's @wbitwbb first-round matchup with familiar mid-state adversary Middle Tennessee ???? pic.twitter.com/RrfPHJIvN6

— Belmont WBasketball (@BelmontWBB) March 20, 2025

What's Bruin

• The Bruins (22-12) had their six-game winning streak snapped in the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game Sunday afternoon inside the Ford Center in downtown Evansville, Indiana. Belmont was making its eighth conference tournament championship game appearance in 10 seasons.
• For the second consecutive year, the Bruins have received an at-large bid to the WBIT.
• Belmont is the No. 3 seed in the upper right quadrant of the WBIT bracket.
• The Bruins won the first-ever WBIT game on March 21, 2024, with a 77-59 victory at fourth-seeded Ball State in Muncie, Indiana.
• Belmont has won a national postseason game in three of the last four years.
• The Bruins have earned a national postseason bid in 12 of 13 seasons dating back to Belmont's 2012-13 campaign.
• 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 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 19 total games in February and March, including postseason play.
• From Jan. 4-Feb. 13, the Bruins won 10 in a row.
• 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 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 15 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 21 of its 22 victories this season, including 13 below 60 points.
• The Bruins' strength of schedule is ranked as the 76th-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.

In the WBIT

• The Bruins are 1-1 in WBIT games. After its first-round road win over the Cardinals last March, Belmont traveled to top-seeded Penn State where the Bruins were handed a 74-66 defeat.
• The MVC leads all conferences with four at-large selections to the 2025 WBIT.

National Postseason Success

• Belmont has made six of the previous eight NCAA Tournaments, including reaching the Round of 32 back-to-back years in 2022 (win vs. Oregon in Knoxville, Tennessee) and 2021 (win vs. Gonzaga in San Marcos, Texas).
• The Bruins also participated in the 2023, 2014 and 2006 WNIT and competed in the 2013 Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI).

Last Time Out

• Uncharacteristic 2-for-21 three-point shooting and 35.3 percent (24-of-68) shooting overall led to an 83-62 loss to top-seeded MVC regular season champion Murray State in the MVC Tournament championship game on selection Sunday.
• Belmont committed a season-low seven turnovers but was unable to stop the hot-shooting Racers, who went 14-for-28 from outside and shot 51.9 percent (28-of-54) from the field.
• Murray State outpaced the Bruins 32-14 over the last 11:42 of play.
• Belmont never led and trailed for 32:53 of the contest.

Player Notes
 
Senior Forward Kendal Cheesman

• The third Bruin to be named All-MVC First Team and the second to be selected to an MVC All-Tournament Team.
• Averaged 12 points and 13 boards during Belmont's MVC Tournament run, collecting 39 total rebounds for the second-most in MVC Tournament history and the most across three tournament games.
• 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 37 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 10 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 the Bruins' second-straight MVC Player of the Week award on Feb. 10.
• Cheesman reached 1,000 career points in the second quarter of the MVC Tournament championship game against Murray State and she is only nine points from becoming Belmont's 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 – 24 of 34 games this season.
• She has posted four 20-point games and put together her first two career double-doubles against Northern Iowa.
• The Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Chirstian School), native nearly had a triple-double during the Bruins' 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 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. 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 45 players in the nation with 75 steals, Jones has tallied at least four steals seven times and scored in double figures in 17 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 the Bruins' NCAA era career steals leader (334), 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 131 career starts and 132 games played, Jones is just eight games and two starts from the most ever by a Belmont player in the Bruins' 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 20 of 33 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 Belmont's 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 17 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 the Bruins' decisive, 65-52 victory over the Blue Raiders 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 on the road to wrap up the regular season, Feltner put together career-best performances. She scored 17 second-half points at Indiana State on March 6 before tallying a career-high 19 points on a career-best 8-for-10 shooting at Evansville on March 8. 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, Tripp recorded 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds.

Graduate Guard Jacee Busick

• Sensational in the March 6 victory at Indiana State, Busick scored a career-high 18 points on a career-best 8-for-11 shooting.
• Over the last five games, Busick has shot 59.1 percent (13-of-22) and gone 7-for-9 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 Middle Tennessee

• Thursday's WBIT first round clash between the Bruins and Middle Tennessee is the 36th all-time meeting between the two programs.
• The Blue Raiders hold a 19-16 lead in the series, but Belmont is 5-4 against Middle Tennessee since becoming a Division I member.
• Coach Brooks is 5-1 versus the Blue Raiders.
• Winners of the last two matchups, which have been held in Nashville, the Bruins defeated Middle Tennessee 65-52 in non-conference play on Dec. 7. In addition to La Chapell's career-high 26-point performance on 12-for-17 shooting, Cheesman went 6-for-11 from long range. Both Cheesman and Harrison pulled down 10 rebounds apiece and Belmont knocked down 11 three-pointers. The Bruins held the Blue Raiders to 34 percent (16-of-47) shooting, including 4-for-12 from beyond the arc.
• Middle Tennessee has never won in the Curb and the Blue Raiders' last win at Belmont came on Feb. 22, 2000.

Up Next
The Bruins will take on either Arizona (19-13), the No. 2 seed in the upper right quadrant, or Northern Arizona (26-7) this Sunday with a win Thursday night. Belmont will host Sunday's WBIT second round if both the Bruins and the Lumberjacks are victorious in their opening round matchups Thursday.
 
How to Follow
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