Evansville Stuns Bruins in MVC Tournament Quarterfinals Friday Evening

CORALVILLE, Iowa – Running into a surging Evansville squad, the Belmont University women's basketball team was defeated 76-63 Friday evening in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Credit Union 1 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Coralville, Iowa. The second-seeded Bruins (20-12, 16-4 MVC) led for just 12:05 of the contest and trailed from the 3:12 mark of the first half onward. Meanwhile, the 10th-seeded Purple Aces (9-24, 5-15 MVC) scored 42 second-half points on 50 percent (13-of-26) shooting.
 
The loss is Belmont's first in the quarterfinals of the MVC Tournament. The Bruins entered Friday having won their opening conference tournament game each of the last 13 years.
 
Going 4-for-25 (16 percent) from beyond the arc, Belmont was hampered by 36.7 percent (22-of-60) shooting. The Bruins also didn't help their cause by going 15-for-23 (65.2 percent) at the free-throw line.
 
Belmont led by as much as seven in the second quarter, but a lengthy 18-5 Evansville run to close the half set up the rest of the evening. After the Bruins led 23-16 with just under six minutes to go in the half, the Purple Aces outscored Belmont 60-40 the rest of the way.

Evansville owned a 44-35 rebounding advantage and outscored the Bruins 28-7 in points off the bench. The Purple Aces also scored 13 points on 15 second chances.
 
Despite leading the Valley in turnovers forced per game (17.1), Belmont turned Evansville over just 13 times inside Xtream Areana and got only 11 points off the Purple Aces' offensive miscues.

The Bruins were scoreless for nearly the first three minutes of the game before graduate guard Tuti Jones scored on a layup. Fellow graduate guard Avery Strickland scored on a layup in the last 30 seconds of the opening quarter to give Belmont a 10-9 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
 
Both teams shot under 30 percent in the first frame.

Jones knocked down her first of three triples in the first minute of the second quarter, and the Bruins took a six-point lead at 19-13 a little over two-and-a-half minutes into the period on a conventional three-point play from junior guard Jailyn Banks. Strickland capped a 13-5 Belmont run with her layup making it 23-16 at the 5:54 mark of the half.

Evansville starting guard Breaunna Ward connected on a three-pointer to ignite an 18-2 run for the Purple Aces. Limiting the Bruins to only one basket in the final five-and-a-half minutes of the half, Evansville took a commanding, nine-point lead at 34-25 on an and-one play by Mireia Mustaros. Jones was able to draw a foul on a three-point attempt in the last 10 seconds of the half and sunk all three of her free throws to make it 34-28 Purple Aces at halftime.
 
Evansville outpaced Belmont 25-18 in the second quarter, going 4-for-8 from distance and 5-for-5 at the foul line.
 
The Bruins were 1-for-13 from behind the arc in the first half. Jones had 10 points at the break.

Junior center KK Brodie hit a jumper within the first 90 seconds of the second half to keep Belmont within six at 36-30. However, it was as close as the Bruins would be for the remainder of the evening. Belmont simply could not string together stops in the third and fourth quarters.
 
All-MVC Second Team guard Camryn Runner gave the Purple Aces their first double-digit lead at 40-30 a little less than two minutes into the second half, before fellow Evansville starting guard Elle Snyder pushed the issue to 12. Four-straight points from Banks trimmed the deficit to eight at 42-34, but the Purple Aces took a 10-point, 52-42 lead into the pivotal fourth quarter.

The Bruins scored just 14 third-quarter points on 4-for-13 (30.8 percent) shooting.
 
Belmont trailed by double digits the entirety of the final quarter. Evansville led by 14, its largest margin of the game, a trio of times in the last six-and-a-half minutes.
 
The Purple Aces put up 24 fourth-quarter points on 55.6 percent (5-of-9) shooting, which included going 2-for-4 from deep. Evansville was also 12-for-18 at the free-throw line in the quarter. Banks (9) and Jones (6) accounted for 15 of the Bruins' 21 points in the last stanza.

Belmont shot 37.9 percent (11-of-29) in the second half and went 3-for-12 from three-point range. The Bruins were 10-for-17 (58.8 percent) at the charity stripe across the last two quarters.

Jones led Belmont with 18 points on 6-for-8 shooting, including going 3-for-4 from long range, six rebounds, a game-high four steals and a team-best three assists. Banks finished with 17 points, while Strickland posted 11 points and six boards. Brodie tallied a career-high seven blocks, just one block shy of the Bruins' single-game program record, and added eight points and eight rebounds.
 
Sophomore guard Quinn Eubank snagged a game-high 10 rebounds.

Runner led four Purple Aces who scored in double figures with a game-high 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting, six boards and five assists. Evansville got 11 points and eight rebounds from Kylee Norkus and 10 points each from Mustaros and starting guard Sydney Huber. Snyder collected a team-high nine boards for the Purple Aces.

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