Third-Seeded Bruins Among Final Four Teams in WBIT, Headed to Indianapolis for Semifinals

 
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – After an impressive 45-point blowout of top-seeded James Madison on the road Thursday night in the quarterfinals, the Belmont University women's basketball team is headed to the 2025 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) final site in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Bruins, seeded third in the upper right quadrant of the WBIT bracket, take on Villanova, the No. 4 seed in the lower right quadrant, in the semifinals Monday afternoon. Tipoff from historic Hinkle Fieldhouse is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT/2:30 p.m. ET.
 
The first national postseason semifinal will be broadcast on ESPNU with Krista Blunk (play-by-play) and Anne O'Neil (analyst) on the call. Ashley ShahAhmadi will be reporting from the sideline. The NCAA-sanctioned event can also be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio, available online, with Dr. Rich Tiner providing live play-by-play of the action. Live stats of the game can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
A pregame fan hangout for Belmont fans will be held at Chatham Tap, located on Butler University's campus just down the street and within walking distance of Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
What's Bruin

• Following a second-round victory by the smallest of margins, the Bruins doubled up the Dukes, 90-45, in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Thursday. It was Belmont's largest margin of victory since the 2022-23 season and largest margin of victory ever in a national postseason game.
• The Bruins hosted in the first two rounds of the WBIT, defeating familiar mid-state foe Middle Tennessee 64-51 in the opening round before edging Northern Arizona 81-80 in dramatic fashion in the second round.
• Belmont overcame a 21-point deficit, including trailing by 12 with two-and-a-half minutes remaining, against the Lumberjacks in Nashville last weekend. Sophomore guard Jailyn Banks scored the game winner in the final second on a reverse layup off an inbound pass from junior guard Emily La Chapell.
• The Bruins are in Belmont's deepest run in a national postseason tournament in any sport since becoming a NCAA Division I member in the late 1990s.
  • Men's basketball reached the 2014 NIT quarterfinals and baseball advanced to the 2011 NCAA Baseball Championship Nashville Regional final.
• The Bruins have claimed six national postseason wins in five years.
• Belmont is joined by UConn and Villanova as the only three programs outside the four autonomy conferences (SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12) who have recorded national postseason victories in four of the last five seasons with multiple NCAA Tournament wins.
• The Bruins also received an at-large bid to the WBIT last year and won the first-ever WBIT game on March 21, 2024, with a 77-59 victory at fourth-seeded Ball State in Muncie, Indiana.
• Monday's game is Belmont's 38th of the season, the most games the Bruins have played in a season in program history.
• March 31 is also the latest date in a season Belmont has ever played.
• The Bruins had their six-game winning streak snapped by Murray State in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game inside the Ford Center in downtown Evansville, Indiana, on selection Sunday. As the No. 3 seed, Belmont made its eighth conference tournament championship game appearance in 10 seasons.
• The Bruins have earned a national postseason bid in 12 of 13 seasons dating back to Belmont's 2012-13 campaign.
• The Bruins have finished in the top three of their conference in 13 of the last 14 seasons, including each of the last 10 seasons.
• Belmont won its 1,100th game as a program with its 73-43 home shellacking of Southern Illinois on Feb. 27.
• In eight seasons, the Bruins have lost only 19 total games in February and March, including postseason play.
• 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 six 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 16 games. Only 15 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 twice this season.
• Belmont has held its opponent under 70 points in 23 of its 25 victories this season, including 15 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 4-1 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 led all conferences with four at-large selections into the 2025 WBIT field.

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

• Belmont hit a season-high 18 three-pointers at JMU, marking the most threes in a game for the Bruins since making a program-record 19 against Eastern Illinois on Feb. 21, 2019. The Dukes had never given up more than 15 threes in a game in program history prior to Belmont's trouncing.
• Reaching 90 points for the fourth time this season, the Bruins went on a remarkable 39-4 scoring run from the six-minute mark of the first half to the two-minute mark of the third quarter.
• Belmont limited JMU to 30.6 percent (19-of-62) shooting and outworked the Dukes 48-34 on the boards.
• Graduate guards Tuti Jones and Kendall Holmes combined for over half (48) of the Bruins' points and together went 13-for-20 from long range.
• On a career-high eight made triples (8-for-11), Jones scored a game-high 26 points and collected a trio of steals.
• Making five threes and finishing 8-for-13 from the floor, Holmes scored a season-best 22 points, just a point off her career high.

Indy Connection

• Belmont men's basketball legend Ben Sheppard ('23) is in his second season as a guard for the Indiana Pacers.

Hoosier State Connection

• Darby Maggard ('19), one of the greatest players ever in NCAA basketball history, grew up two hours from Hinkle Fieldhouse in Larwill, Indiana (Canterbury HS). The Bruins' all-time leader in three-pointers (430), three-point percentage (.431) and free-throw percentage (.924), Maggard was the first player in NCAA history to dish out at least 650 assists and make more than 400 threes. An All-American and Belmont's NCAA era scoring leader (2,031 points), Maggard led the Bruins to four consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Player Notes
 
Senior Forward Kendal Cheesman

• Third Belmont player named All-MVC First Team and the second selected to an MVC All-Tournament Team.
• Averaged 12 points and 13 boards during the Bruins' MVC Tournament run, collecting 39 total rebounds for the second-most in MVC Tournament history and the most across three tournament games.
• One of only three players in the nation averaging at least 12.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 made three-pointers per game while shooting better than 35 percent from behind the arc.
• Registered a team-best 10 double-doubles this season and earned 15 double-doubles over the last two seasons.
• 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.
• Reached 1,000 career points in the second quarter of the MVC Tournament championship game against Murray State.
• Became the Bruins' 36th 1,000-point scorer with a third-quarter three in the WBIT first round win over the Blue Raiders.

Sophomore Guard Jailyn Banks

• An All-MVC Third Team selection for the second consecutive year.
• Leads the team in double-figure scoring games this season – 26 of 37 games.
• Has posted four 20-point games in 2024-25.
• First two career double-doubles against Northern Iowa this season, including a near triple-double during Belmont's Jan. 18 win in Cedar Falls, Iowa – 16 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high eight assists.
• Tied her career high of 23 points in both of the Bruins' last two non-conference games against Southeastern Conference opponents (No. 16/15 Kentucky and Mississippi State).
• All three of her 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.
• Has led Belmont in the WBIT with 16 points and 2.7 steals per game.
• Shot 51.5 percent (85-of-165) from the field and a team-best 44 percent (40-of-91) from distance in MVC play.
• Among the top 30 players in the nation with 83 steals – at least four steals seven times.
• Has scored in double figures in 20 games.
• Named MVC Player of the Week on Feb. 3 after recording a double-double in the home win over the Racers with a career-high 29 points and a season-high 10 rebounds.
• One of just 25 active players across all NCAA divisions and one of only 12 at the Division I level with 300 career steals.
• The Bruins' NCAA era career steals leader (342) and second all-time in program history.
• Has made the most starts (134) in Belmont's NCAA era.
• Her 135 games played are just five 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.
• Scored her 1,000th career point in her hometown in the win at the University of Illinois Chicago on Feb. 9.
• Has reached double figures in 22 of 35 games played this season, including Thursday night's season-best performance.
• Collected the Bruins' first weekly conference honor of the season by being named MVC Newcomer of the Week (Dec. 23) after her valiant effort at top-20 ranked Kentucky.
• 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

• Has scored in double figures 18 times this season and leads the team in minutes (30.4 MPG).
• 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.
• Scored a career-high 26 points on a career-best 12-for-17 shooting in Belmont's decisive, 65-52 regular season victory over Middle Tennessee on Dec. 7.

Freshman Guard Sanaa Tripp

• Has provided a huge boost off the bench, pouring in 20 points and snagging eight boards across the last two WBIT games.
• Scored in double figures in road victories at Valparaiso and Indiana State and in the WBIT second round win over the Lumberjacks.
• Scored a career-high 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting in the road win over the Beacons on Feb. 7.
• Recorded 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds against the Sycamores in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Sophomore Guard Kensley Feltner

• Put together career-best performances in her first two career starts on the road to wrap up the regular season.
• Scored 17 second-half points in the triumph at Indiana State on March 6.
• Tallied a career-high 19 points on a career-best 8-for-10 shooting, including going 4-for-4 from the field in the fourth quarter, and secured a career-high tying eight rebounds in the win at Evansville on March 8.
• Has reached double figures in four games.

Graduate Guard Jacee Busick

• Sensational in the March 6 victory at Indiana State, scoring a career-high 18 points on a career-best 8-for-11 shooting.
• Brought down a season-high seven rebounds in the win at JMU.

Senior Forward Carmyn Harrison

• Named to the Fort Myers Tip-Off Shell Division All-Tournament Team 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.
• Scored at least 13 points in three-straight games and reached double figures in four of five outings from Nov. 14-30.

 Against the BIG EAST

• Belmont is 1-3 all-time versus current BIG EAST Conference members with a win over Xavier during the 1980-81 season.

Versus Villanova

• Monday afternoon will be the second meeting in three seasons between the Bruins and Villanova. The two teams met at the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Florida, where the then 23rd-ranked Wildcats prevailed in a tightly-contested, 83-80 affair.
• The score was knotted up at 70 with six minutes to go and Belmont trailed by just a point with 11 seconds remaining. Villanova had the services of All-American forward Maddy Siegrist, who scored a game-high 29 points.
• Jones scored 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting, recorded five rebounds and came up with a pair of steals in the narrow loss.

Up Next
The second WBIT semifinal later Monday features second-seeded Minnesota and third-seeded Florida. Should the Bruins emerge victorious, Belmont would play in the WBIT championship game Wednesday at 5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET. The national postseason title game will air on ESPN2.
 
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