ST. LOUIS – Following the conclusion of regular season play Saturday afternoon, the Belmont University women's basketball team has earned the No. 3 seed for the upcoming 2025 Credit Union 1 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Bruins (20-11, 15-5 MVC) completed the regular season tied for third with defending MVC Tournament champion Drake (21-10, 15-5 MVC) in the final MVC standings but won the tiebreaker based on Sunday morning's NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings. The two teams split games during the regular season with each winning on the road, leading to the second tiebreaker procedure. Belmont is ranked No. 61 in the NET as the second-highest ranked team out of the Valley, while Drake is No. 68.
For the first time, the Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament is being held in downtown Evansville, Indiana, at the Ford Center this Thursday-Sunday, March 13-16. It marks the 18th-straight year the MVC Women's Basketball Tournament has been held at a neutral site.
The Bruins will take on either sixth-seeded Northern Iowa (16-15, 11-9 MVC) or 11th-seeded Indiana State (4-27, 2-18 MVC) in the Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament quarterfinals Friday night at 8:30 p.m. Should Belmont advance, the Bruins would play in the second semifinal Saturday at 4 p.m.
All quarterfinal and semifinal matchups will be broadcast on
ESPN+, while Sunday afternoon's Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament championship game at 1 p.m. will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Belmont has posted a top-three conference finish in 13 of the last 14 seasons, including each of the last 10 seasons.
The Bruins are one of only eight programs in the nation to have won 20 games for 10-straight seasons – UConn, South Carolina, Baylor, Iowa, NC State, South Dakota State and Florida Gulf Coast are the other seven.
Belmont is 13-1 all-time inside the Ford Center and won four Ohio Valley Conference Tournament titles inside the arena (2022, 2021, 2019, 2018).
Eighth-year head coach
Bart Brooks is 15-3 in conference tournament games and 4-1 in championship contests.
The Bruins ended the regular season on a four-game winning streak, including defeating MVC co-champion Missouri State 67-61 on senior day a week ago Saturday. Belmont is 3-0 this March and 86-18 (.827) in the key months of February and March over the last eight seasons.
The Bruins defeated the Panthers of Northern Iowa 74-60 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Jan. 18, but dropped the return game at the Curb Event Center on Feb. 13, 73-61. Belmont swept the Sycamores of Indiana State during the regular season, including a 90-69 road victory this past Thursday evening.
MVC co-champion Murray State (22-7, 16-4 MVC) earned the top seed for the Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament with a Valley-best No. 56 NET ranking. The Lady Bears of Missouri State (24-7, 16-4 MVC) are the No. 2 seed for the MVC Tournament with a NET ranking of No. 66.
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