CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Closing out a 2-0 week in the Hawkeye State, the Belmont University women's basketball team earned a 70-58 triumph at Northern Iowa Saturday afternoon inside the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Bruins (14-9, 10-2 MVC) outscored the Panthers (11-12, 7-6 MVC) 39-30 in the second half and shot a season-best 54.2 percent (26-of-48) from the field.
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Belmont led by as much as 16 in the fourth quarter after leading by only three at halftime.
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Inspired play from graduate guard
Tuti Jones captained the Bruins and Belmont got key contributions from junior guard
Jailyn Banks, junior center
KK Brodie, and sophomore guards
Quinn Eubank and
Sanaa Tripp.
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Jones tallied 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting as she went 4-for-6 from three-point range, while Banks scored 14 points and distributed a season-high tying seven assists. Brodie notched 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting and grabbed a season-high seven rebounds. Both Eubank and Tripp provided nine points and the two combined for nine boards.
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The Bruins outworked Northern Iowa 30-20 on the boards and 22-16 in points in the paint.
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Belmont trailed by five at 28-23 with just over four minutes to go in the first half before graduate guard
Avery Strickland sparked an 8-0 run to close the half. A strong take to the basket by Strickland at the four-minute mark was followed by stingy defensive play from the Bruins.
Not allowing the Panthers to score for the closing 4:12 of the first half, Jones knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the last two minutes. Her second triple put Belmont up 31-28 heading into the break.
The Bruins led the entirety of the second half.
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With 34 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, Jones hit a jumper to give Belmont a 16-14 advantage following the first stanza.
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Jones and Banks combined for 11 of the Bruins' 15 second-quarter points as Belmont went 3-for-6 from beyond the arc in the period.
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The Bruins held Northern Iowa to 38.5 percent (10-of-26) shooting across the first half.
The Panthers stayed within a point of Belmont early in the second half before Jones' third three ignited a 10-2 run four minutes in. A Brodie jumper and Tripp layup preceded Jones' fourth trey, which gave the Bruins a commanding 46-37 lead with two minutes left in the third quarter.
Belmont led 48-40 through three quarters of action after going 6-for-10 from the floor, including 2-for-4 from deep, in the third. The Bruins outscored Northern Iowa 17-12 in the third quarter behind Jones' eight points.
Eubank set the tone early in the final quarter with a layup only eight seconds in giving Belmont its first double-digit lead of the day at 50-40. In fact, the Bruins would lead by double figures the rest of the way as Belmont kept the Panthers from scoring for nearly the first three minutes of the quarter.
Banks completed a 9-2 run to start the fourth with her three-pointer making it 57-42 with 6:31 left. Tripp then scored five of the Bruins' next seven points, her free throw with 4:19 to go pushing Belmont out to its largest lead of the afternoon at 64-48.
Eubank kept the Bruins ahead by 16 with a three with 3:09 remaining, and Brodie put an exclamation point on the game with her sixth career three-pointer with 1:35 left.
Outscoring Northern Iowa 22-18 in the fourth frame, Belmont went 8-for-11 (72.7 percent) from the field and was 3-for-4 from distance. Eubank scored seven points in the quarter on 3-for-3 shooting.
The Bruins shot a blistering 66.7 percent (14-of-21) in the second half and were 5-for-8 from long range. Jones scored 10 of her 18 points in the second half and Banks totaled nine second-half points.
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Belmont finished 10-for-23 (43.5 percent) from three.
Starters Ryley Goebel and Jenna Twedt led the Panthers with 15 points apiece and Northern Iowa got a game-high 11 rebounds and team-high four assists from forward Elise Jaeger.
Of Note
- The Bruins are a perfect 4-0 inside the Panthers' McLeod Center.
- Belmont improves to 9-1 all-time versus Northern Iowa.
- The Bruins are 94-19 (.832) in the key months of February and March under ninth-year head coach Bart Brooks.
- Banks has scored in double figures in 14 of the 15 games she's played in this season.
- Brodie has reached double figures four times in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Up Next
Belmont returns to action in the Music City next weekend, hosting the University of Illinois Chicago Friday night before welcoming Valparaiso to the Curb Event Center Sunday afternoon. Tipoff between the Bruins and the Flames Friday is slated for 6:30 p.m. The MVC home matchup will be broadcast on
The Valley on ESPN, available on
ESPN+.
Tickets
Single-game tickets for the 2025-26 season are on sale and can be purchased by visiting
BelmontBruins.com/Tickets or calling 615-460-BALL.
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Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament
The 2026 Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament will be held Thursday-Sunday, March 12-15 in Coralville, Iowa, at Xtream Arena. All-session tournament passes are on sale now and can be purchased
here. Rooms are also available for booking at the official Belmont fan hotel –
Drury Inn & Suites.
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How to Follow
Follow Belmont women's basketball on social media -Â
@BelmontWBBÂ on X, formerly Twitter,Â
@belmontwbb on Instagram andÂ
Belmont Women's Basketball on Facebook - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via theÂ
official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
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#ItsBruinTime
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