Women's Basketball Wraps Up Regular Season at Evansville Saturday Afternoon

 
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Closing out the regular season, the Belmont University women's basketball team takes on the University of Evansville Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. from Meeks Family Fieldhouse in Evansville, Indiana.
 
The Missouri Valley Conference road matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Casey Roehl (play-by-play) and Walt Ferber (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

• With a game to go, the Bruins (19-11, 14-5 MVC) are only one game back from MVC co-leaders Missouri State and Murray State.
• A win Saturday would guarantee Belmont a top-four seed in next week's Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament.
• Riding a three-game winning streak, the Bruins went 2-0 last week to complete their home slate. Belmont defeated MVC co-leader Missouri State 67-61 last Saturday afternoon in Nashville to secure the Bruins' sixth undefeated week in Valley play.
• Belmont completed the regular season sweep of Indiana State Thursday evening in Terre Haute with a convincing, 90-69 win over the Sycamores.
• 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.
• Thursday night's triumph at Indiana State was the Bruins' first road victory since Feb. 9.
• Belmont is 8-6 in true road games this season and 9-8 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 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 13 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 18 of its 19 victories this season, including 11 below 60 points.
• The Bruins' strength of schedule is currently ranked as the 62nd-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.

Last Time Out

• After trailing by as much as eight late in the opening quarter and leading by only three at halftime, the Bruins put together a 57-point second half against the Sycamores on the road.
• Belmont hauled in a season-high tying 51 rebounds and made a season-high 36 field goals.
• Reaching the 90-point mark for the third time this season, the Bruins went 36-for-77 (46.8 percent) from the field, assisted on 18 baskets and came up with 11 steals.
• Getting a season-high 39 points off the bench, Belmont outworked Indiana State 50-28 in the paint and outscored the Sycamores 16-3 in points off turnovers.

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 39 percent from behind the arc, senior forward Kendal Cheesman has registered a team-best nine double-doubles this season. With four double-doubles in her last six outings, Cheesman has earned 14 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 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 the University of Illinois Chicago and Valparaiso.
• She is only 28 points from reaching 1,000 for her career and is only 50 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 21 of 30 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 weekend's win over the Lady Bears.
• The Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Chirstian School), native earned her first two career double-doubles earlier 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 (329), 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 30 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 has scored in double figures in back-to-back games and three of the last four outings.
• 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 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. On Thursday at Indiana State, Tripp collected a career-high seven rebounds to go along with 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting.

Kensley Feltner

• Sophomore guard Kensley Feltner made her first career start against the Sycamores earlier this week and scored a career-high 17 points, all in the second half. She had 12 in the fourth quarter alone and finished 6-for-8 at the free-throw line while bringing down six boards.
• A native of Louisa, Kentucky (Lawrence County HS), Feltner scored 11 in consecutive home wins over Evansville (Jan. 24) and Indiana State (Jan. 26). She nearly tallied a double-double in the 88-58 rout of the Sycamores with a career-high eight rebounds.

Jacee Busick

• Graduate guard Jacee Busick was sensational in Thursday's victory in Terre Haute, scoring a career-high 18 points on a career-best 8-for-11 shooting. She also reached double figures in the home win over 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 Evansville

• Saturday will be the eighth all-time meeting between the Bruins and Evansville with Belmont holding a 5-2 lead in the series.
• The Bruins have won each of the last five matchups in overwhelming fashion since joining the MVC. In fact, none of the last five games in the series have been decided by less than 18 points.
• Belmont has won both of the last two meetings with the Purple Aces by 25 points and defeated Evansville by 40-plus points in the previous two matchups before that.
• In their last visit to Meeks Family Fieldhouse in January of 2023, the Bruins topped the Purple Aces 76-58.
• Last January, Belmont took on Evansville at the Ford Center where the Bruins blew out the Purple Aces 84-40.
• On Jan. 24, Belmont beat Evansville 90-65 inside the Curb behind six double-figure scorers and a season-high 26 assists on 34 made field goals. The Bruins scored 36 points off the bench and shot 54 percent from the field, including going 10-for-20 from deep.
• In the late 1990s, the Purple Aces defeated Belmont twice in a home-and-home series.

Up Next
The Bruins will head back to Evansville next week for the 2025 Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament, which will be held downtown at the Ford Center Thursday-Sunday, March 13-16. Seeds and matchups will be announced Sunday morning with opening round games taking place next Thursday and the quarterfinals being held next Friday. The top four seeds in the MVC Tournament receive a first-round bye to the quarterfinals.
 
How to Follow
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