Women's Basketball Faces Indiana State Thursday Night in Terre Haute

 
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Embarking on its final road trip of the regular season, the Belmont University women's basketball team travels to Terre Haute, Indiana, to take on Indiana State Thursday night. Tipoff from the Hulman Center is slated for 6 p.m. CT/7 p.m. ET.
 
The Missouri Valley Conference road matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Kelsie Kasper (play-by-play) and Adrian Madrid (analyst) on the call. The 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

• The Bruins (18-11, 13-5 MVC) went 2-0 last week to close out their home schedule, including defeating MVC co-leader Missouri State 67-61 late last Saturday afternoon. It was Belmont's sixth undefeated week in Valley play.
• With last Thursday's 30-point drubbing of Southern Illinois, the Bruins won their 1,100th game as a program.
• In eight seasons, Belmont has lost only 18 total games in February and March, including postseason play.
• The Bruins are seeking their first road victory since Feb. 9 at the University of Illinois Chicago. Having dropped its last two road outings, Belmont is 7-6 in true road games this season and 8-8 away from home.
• 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 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 in 2024-25 with at least four players reaching double figures in 13 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 67 points in 17 of its 18 victories this season, including 11 below 60 points.
• The Bruins' strength of schedule is currently ranked as the 67th-most difficult in the nation 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 country according to the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET).
• 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.
• The Bruins' season opener was at 13th-ranked Kansas State on Nov. 7.

Last Time Out

• Belmont outscored the visiting Lady Bears 22-7 in the third quarter and played inspired defense throughout in avenging its Jan. 2 road loss at Missouri State.
• The Bruins started the third quarter with a 12-2 run and led by as much as 18 in the fourth.
• Holding the Lady Bears to 38.5 percent shooting and only three made threes, Belmont outworked Missouri State 40-38 on the boards, assisted on 14 of its 24 made field goals and went 11-for-13 at the free-throw line.

Player Notes
 
Kendal Cheesman

• The only player in the nation averaging over 12.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 made three-pointers per game while shooting at least 40 percent from behind the arc, senior forward Kendal Cheesman has registered a team-best eight double-doubles this season.
• The Tampa, Florida (H.B. Plant HS), native was named Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week on Feb. 26 after averaging 21 points on 63.6 percent (7-of-11) shooting from distance and 13 rebounds in road games at Illinois State and Murray State.
• 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 UIC and Valparaiso.
• She is only 38 points from reaching 1,000 for her career and is only 60 points from becoming Belmont's 36th 1,000-point scorer.

Jailyn Banks

• Sophomore guard Jailyn Banks has scored in double figures in each of the last six outings and a team-best 21 of 29 games this season. Notching her fourth 20-point game of the season, Banks scored 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting and tallied five assists, five rebounds and a steal in last Saturday's triumph over Missouri State.
• The Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Chirstian School), native has earned her first two career double-doubles this 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. 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 15 games and secured double-digit rebounds twice.
• 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 win 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 (327), 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 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 18 of 29 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.
• 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 recorded a career-high 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting in the road win over the Beacons on Feb. 7. Last Thursday night in the rout of the Salukis, Tripp snagged a career-high six rebounds.

Kensley Feltner

• Sophomore guard Kensley Feltner scored a career-high 11 points in back-to-back games in home wins over Evansville (Jan. 24) and Indiana State (Jan. 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 last time 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 games and reached double figures in four of five outings from Nov. 14-30.

Versus Indiana State

• Thursday will be the 11th all-time meeting between the Bruins and Indiana State with Belmont holding an 8-2 lead in the series.
• The Bruins have won each of the last five matchups since joining the MVC by an average margin of 17.2 points.
• Seven different Belmont players scored at least eight points, and the Bruins got a season-high tying 36 points off the bench in their late January home win over the Sycamores. Belmont was plus-21 on the glass (47-26) and outscored Indiana State 46-26 in the paint. The Bruins shot 53.1 percent and assisted on 21 of their 34 made baskets.
• In its last visit to Terre Haute last January, Belmont won in dramatic fashion as Banks made a remarkable play in the final 15 seconds. With the Bruins trailing by a point and the Sycamores inbounding, Banks came up with a steal and finished at the rim through hard contact. Belmont led for only 1:46 of the contest but outscored Indiana State 21-7 in the fourth quarter for a 61-56 win.
• The two teams met five times prior to becoming MVC adversaries and split a home-and-home series during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.
• The Bruins went 2-1 against the Sycamores in the mid-to-late 1970s.

Up Next
Belmont wraps up the regular season Saturday afternoon at the University of Evansville. Tipoff from the Meeks Family Fieldhouse in Evansville, Indiana, is set for 2 p.m. The regular season finale will be broadcast on ESPN+. Next week, the Bruins will head back to Evansville for the 2025 Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament, which will be held at the Ford Center downtown Thursday-Sunday, March 13-16.
 
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.