NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Despite outscoring the University of South Florida 48-35 in the second half Friday night inside the Curb Event Center, the Belmont University women's basketball team was edged 69-66 due to an and-1 layup by Bulls' starting guard Amourie Porter with 1.4 seconds remaining. Sophomore guard
Kate McGinnis drained a deep 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left to even the score at 66 before Porter's game winner.
The Bruins (0-2) trailed from the 7:51 mark of the first quarter until McGinnis' tying three.
Nearly overcoming an 18-point deficit, which included trailing by 11 with under four minutes to go, Belmont used 8-for-16 3-point shooting in the second half to claw its way back.
McGinnis put together a career-best 6-for-8 shooting performance from behind the arc to score a career-high 18 points in only 14:21 on the floor. She was one of three Bruins in double figures as graduate guard
Kenley McCarn also scored 18 and freshman guard
Chelby Jordan poured in 12 points.
Belmont assisted on 14 of its 21 baskets and shot 40 percent (12-of-30) overall from outside.
South Florida (2-0) outscored the Bruins 26-10 in the paint and tallied 14 points on 22 offensive rebounds. The Bulls held a plus-nine (48-39) advantage on the glass.
McGinnis started 3-for-4 from deep and Belmont was down by just two (16-14) after the first quarter.
After going 2-for-13 from the field in the second quarter and being outscored 18-4 across the second 10 minutes of action, the Bruins found themselves down 34-18 at the half.
Belmont shot just 24.1 percent (7-of-29) in the first half and was 4-for-14 from distance.
A 9-0 run early in the third quarter got the Bruins back within nine at 40-31 and after six consecutive South Florida points, another 9-0 run trimmed the deficit to six at 46-40 thanks to McGinnis' fifth triple. Outscored 5-2 over the final 90 seconds of the third, Belmont trailed 51-42 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Bruins outscored the Bulls 24-17 in the third quarter, shooting 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from the floor and going 4-for-8 from long range.
A tough baseline jumper from fifth-year center
KK Brodie kept Belmont within seven at 51-44 and a McCarn 3-pointer made it a four-point game at 51-47 with under eight minutes to go.
The Bruins had been behind 46-31 with 4:34 left in the third, before going on an extended 16-5 scoring run over 6:40 of play.
After South Florida extended its lead back out to 11 with four minutes left, Belmont went on an 8-0 run with threes from McCarn and Brodie. In fact, McCarn's 3-pointer that ignited the scoring run came at the three-minute mark. A pair of free throws from junior guard
Quinn Eubank made it a one-possession game at 64-61 with just under a minute remaining.
Down 66-61, Jordan was fouled on a 3-point attempt and went 2-for-3 at the free-throw line to keep it a single-possession contest at 66-63 with 48.5 seconds to go.
The Bruins got a stop on the Bulls' ensuing possession and following two timeouts, McGinnis nailed her deep, game-tying 3-pointer.
Without a timeout left, Belmont was unable to advance the ball following Porter's made foul shot on her game-winning and-1.
McCarn scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half and Jordan nine of her 12 points.
The Bruins got 23 points off their bench.
Eubank snagged a team-high nine rebounds and made a career-best three blocks. McCarn also dished out a game-high four assists and sophomore guard
Tatum Woodson pulled down a career-high six rebounds.
Starting guard Hannah Kohn led South Florida with 18 points on 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. The Bulls also got 13 points and nine boards from starting forward Fatou Diakite and a game-high 11 rebounds from reserve guard Kate Novik. Porter finished with 12 points for South Florida.
Of Note
- The game was the second of the Nashville Opening Statement, a new cross-conference event featuring the top teams from the Missouri Valley Conference, American Conference, Atlantic 10 Conference and Ivy League.
- Columbia defeated Rhode Island 76-62 in the first game of the Opening Statement at the Curb.
- Belmont is 17-15 all-time versus current American programs.
- McCarn is up to 1,549 career points.
Up Next
The Bruins continue their five-game homestand Sunday afternoon against Columbia. Tipoff of Belmont's second Opening Statement game is slated for 2:30 p.m. from Music City. All Opening Statement games are being broadcast on
ESPN+.
Season Tickets
Basketball season tickets, which include all Belmont women's and men's home games, 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.
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