NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Behind a trio of double-figure scorers and a plus-nine rebounding margin, the Belmont University women's basketball team earned its first victory of the young season with a dominant 72-46 win over Troy University Friday afternoon inside the Curb Event Center. The Bruins (1-3) grabbed 20 of their 51 rebounds off the offensive glass and scored 25 points from 20 forced turnovers. Graduate guards
Katie Criswell (17) and
Kenley McCarn (12), along with freshman point guard
Chelby Jordan (15), scored in double figures to lead Belmont.
Belmont outscored Troy 28-14 in the paint and turned its 20 offensive boards into 16 points. Behind a season-high 16 assists, the Bruins knocked down a season-high 28 field goals and splashed in 10 from beyond the arc.
The Trojans (2-2) were held to 24.6 percent (14-of-57) shooting, including just 4-for-18 (22.2 percent) from distance.
Belmont led for all but the opening 12 seconds of the game and led by double digits from the 4:06 mark of the second quarter onward.
Jordan recorded her first career double-double in only her fourth collegiate game, grabbing 10 rebounds to go along with her 15 points. She also distributed three assists and came up with three steals.
Criswell's 17 points on 8-for-16 shooting led all scorers and she also snagged five boards. Junior guard
Quinn Eubank collected nine rebounds, scored seven points and dished out a career-best seven assists.
Making her first start in only her fourth collegiate outing, freshman forward
Samiya Jones turned in five points and five rebounds and had an assist.
The Bruins got off to a 10-0 start in the first three minutes of action.
A jumper by fifth-year center
KK Brodie made it 12-0 and a McCarn 3-pointer gave Belmont a commanding 15-1 lead a little over four minutes in.
After one quarter, the Bruins led 22-8.
A deep jumper by Criswell followed by a conventional 3-point play from Jordan expanded Belmont's lead to 14 at 30-16 near the midway point of the second quarter. Troy responded with a 7-0 run, but the Bruins answered with an 8-0 run to make it 38-23. The Trojans' seven-point spurt to get within seven at 30-23 with 4:23 to go in the first half would be the closest Troy would get the remainder of the afternoon.
A pair of Criswell jumpers at the end of the first half put Belmont up by 16 at the break, 42-26. Criswell had 15 first-half points on 7-for-11 shooting.
The Bruins shot 44.7 percent (17-of-38) across the first 20 minutes of play.
A 9-0 Belmont run capped by a McCarn three increased the Bruins' advantage to 22 within the initial three minutes of the second half. A fastbreak layup by sophomore guard
Kate McGinnis stretched Belmont's run to 11-0 and made it 53-29 just past the halfway point of the third quarter.
McGinnis connected on a triple and Jordan hit a jumper in the last minute of the third to give the Bruins a 27-point lead at 60-33. Belmont led 65-35 through three quarters after the Bruins outpaced the Trojans 18-9 in the third frame. Troy was held to 2-for-13 from the field in the Belmont-controlled quarter.
Threes from Jordan and McCarn put the Bruins up 28 at 67-39 with a little over six minutes to go. The lead was Belmont's largest of the day.
Sophomore guard
Tatum Woodson drained a 3-pointer and Jones made a putback layup to close out the Bruins' scoring.
Belmont limited the Trojans to 5-for-27 (18.5 percent) from the floor in the second half.
The Bruins finished with nine steals and got 16 points off the bench.
Troy also had three double-figure scorers led by starting guard Aniya Hubbard's 11 points. Fellow starting guard Hannah Smith notched a double-double for the Trojans with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while starting guard Shakirah Edwards totaled 10 points and three steals.
Of Note
- Belmont improves to 14-5 against Troy and 31-16 all-time versus current Sun Belt Conference teams.
- The 11 a.m. tipoff time served as the Bruins' education day game with local elementary school students in attendance.
- Jordan is the first Belmont freshman to record a double-double since forward Tessa Miller (2022-24) did so against Auburn on Dec. 15, 2021 (12 points/10 rebounds).
- Both Jordan and McCarn have scored in double figures in each of their first four games as Bruins.
Up Next
Belmont continues its five-game homestand Tuesday night with a visit from eight-time national champion Tennessee. Tipoff of the highly-anticipated home game is set for 6:30 p.m. The marquee matchup will be broadcast on
ESPN+.
Season Tickets
Basketball season tickets, which include all Belmont women's and men's home games, and single-game tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting
BelmontBruins.com/Tickets.
Belmont Bruin Club memberships are also available.
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.
#ItsBruinTime
