Women’s Basketball Closes Out Regular Season at UIC Saturday Afternoon

 
CHICAGO – Riding a three-game winning streak, the Belmont University women's basketball team wraps up the 2025-26 regular season at the University of Illinois Chicago Saturday afternoon. Tipoff from Credit Union 1 Arena in the Windy City is slated for 2 p.m.
 
The Missouri Valley Conference road matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Terry Bonadonna (play-by-play) and Keno Davis (analyst) on the call. Dr. Rich Tiner will also provide live play-by-play of the action on Belmont Bruins Radio, available online. Live stats of the game can be followed by visiting BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• The Bruins (19-11, 15-4 MVC) clinched the No. 2 seed for next week's Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament in Coralville, Iowa, with an 83-63 victory at Valparaiso Thursday evening.
• For the first time this season, Belmont has scored over 80 points in three consecutive outings.
• The Bruins defeated Southern Illinois 83-64 Monday night in a makeup game previously scheduled for Jan. 24. The game had to be postponed due to a severe ice storm in Nashville.
• Last Saturday afternoon, Belmont completed the regular season sweep of Indiana State with an 88-79 win on Tuti Jones, Emily La Chapell, Claire Hyde and Avery Strickland's senior day. The Bruins' 88 points scored were a season high.
• Belmont is playing four games in an eight-day span to close the regular season.
• The Bruins are 8-5 in true road games in 2025-26.
• Belmont leads the Valley in three important defensive categories – field goal percentage defense (.383), turnovers forced per game (17.1) and steals per game (10.1).
• The Bruins are 13-4 in 2026.
• Belmont had its season-best six-game winning streak halted at Murray State on Jan. 18.
• The Bruins began MVC play 7-0, their best conference start since 2017-18 when Belmont completed its second consecutive undefeated season in the Ohio Valley Conference.
• With their 77-67 home win over Evansville on Dec. 17, the Bruins secured their 10th-straight conference opening triumph.
• Belmont played eight of nine games at home with two four-game homestands in December and January. The Bruins had four of their six December games in the Curb Event Center and Belmont's first four games of the new year were in the Music City.
• Junior guard Jailyn Banks has scored in double figures in all but three games she has played in this season (19-of-22) and co-leads the Bruins with five 20-point outings. With a free throw at the four-minute mark of the third quarter against the Racers on Jan. 31, Banks reached her 1,000th career point to become Belmont's 37th 1,000-point scorer. In both the Bruins' victory at Drake on Feb. 5 and overtime affair at Illinois State on Feb. 20, Banks scored a career-high 26 points.
• Graduate guard Tuti Jones broke Belmont's all-time steals record late in the third quarter in the Bruins' win at Indiana State on Jan. 15. She recorded her 405th career steal to surpass Daree Pilkinton Merritt, who had compiled 404 steals from 1988-91.
• Sophomore forward Hilary Fuller has registered 20 double-figure scoring games on the season and has posted at least 20 points five times in MVC play.
• Graduate guard Avery Strickland leads Belmont with 21 double-figure scoring games on the season and like Banks and Fuller, has reached 20 points five times. She was named MVC Newcomer of the Week on Feb. 2 after scoring 23 points and snagging eight rebounds in the Bruins' overtime road win over the Purple Aces on Jan. 29.
• Belmont faced three top-15 ranked Southeastern Conference opponents during non-conference play. The Bruins hosted 15th-ranked Kentucky on Dec. 14 after challenging 12th-ranked Tennessee on Nov. 13 in Knoxville and sixth-ranked Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma, in their season opener.
• Ninth-year program leader Bart Brooks secured his 200th career victory with Belmont's 72-66 road win at Dayton on Nov. 16. He reached the career milestone in only 270 games as a head coach.
• The Bruins went on a historic national postseason run in the 2025 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT), where they reached the championship game. It was Belmont's deepest national postseason run in any sport.
• For the second time in four seasons, the Bruins were picked as the preseason favorites to win the MVC. Belmont captured a regular season championship in its first season in the Valley in 2022-23.
• Including last season, the Bruins have reached the MVC Tournament championship game two of the last three years.
• Belmont went 26-13 last season and 15-5 in the MVC, tying for third in the final league standings.
• The Bruins' three returning starters – Jones, Banks and senior guard Emily La Chapell – in addition to graduate transfer Strickland (Tennessee/Pittsburgh), were named players to watch by the MVC.
• Jones, Banks and La Chapell were the only three players to start all 39 games for Belmont last season.
• The Bruins returned eight total letter winners and welcomed seven newcomers over the summer, including five freshmen – guard Rylie Beers (Littleton, Colo.), guard Kate McGinnis (Kimberly, Wis.), forward Dacarra Ward (Memphis, Tenn.), forward Leah West (Greensburg, Ind.) and guard Tatum Woodson (Minnetonka, Minn.) – and two transfers – Strickland and junior center KK Brodie (Pepperdine).

Last Time Out

• Belmont erupted for 45 second-half points after shooting just 30.2 percent (13-of-43) in the first half Thursday evening against the Beacons in northwest Indiana.
• Five Bruins scored in double figures led by a game-high 19 points from Strickland and sophomore guard Quinn Eubank's team-leading fourth double-double of the season.
• Belmont limited Valparaiso to 28.8 percent shooting and only 19 made field goals.
• The Bruins outworked the Beacons 30-18 in the paint and pulled down 58 rebounds, the second-most in a game this season, while holding a plus-14 advantage on the glass.
• Belmont knocked down nine three-pointers despite shooting just 27.3 percent from beyond the arc.
• The Bruins made 20 free throws for the fifth time this season but left nine at the foul line (69 percent).
• Belmont used 25 and 26-point second and third quarters, respectively, to distance itself from Valparaiso. A 15-1 scoring run midway through the fourth quarter built an insurmountable 22-point lead for the Bruins.
• Eubank notched a career-high 17 points and brought down a game-best 11 rebounds.
• Jones poured in 16 points and secured five boards, while Brodie tied her season highs in both scoring (12) and rebounding (7).
• Sophomore guard Sanaa Tripp scored 13 points and collected six rebounds off the bench.
• Banks distributed a career-high tying eight assists, tallied a season-best nine boards and came up with a game-high four steals.
• West corralled a career-best eight rebounds and Strickland added six boards and four assists.

Player of the Week

• Jones was named both MVC and Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 8-14 after scoring a season-high 24 points on 6-for-11 shooting, including making 4-for-9 from outside, grabbing a season-best 10 rebounds, dishing out a team-high five assists, and coming up with a game-high three steals against top-15 ranked Kentucky on Dec. 14. She was also a perfect 8-for-8 at the free-throw line.
• Jones' 24-point outing against the nationally-ranked Wildcats was her 80th career double-figure scoring game.

1,500 Points and All-Tournament Team Honors

• Jones reached 1,500 career points with her 19-point performance versus now 11th-ranked Ohio State on Nov. 24 in Nassau, Bahamas. She is only the 11th Belmont player to reach 1,500 career points and is second in scoring in the Bruins' NCAA era (1,743 points).
• Belmont's all-time steals leader (441), Jones is also the Bruins' all-time leader in both games started (166) and games played (167).
• Across all divisions of NCAA basketball, Jones is the nation's current leader in games played and is third among active career steals leaders.
• After averaging 17.5 points on 57.9 percent (11-of-19) shooting, including going 8-for-13 (61.5 percent) from distance, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 2.5 assists in Belmont's two games in the Bahamas, Jones was named to the 2025 Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship Goombay Division All-Tournament Team.

A Winning Program

• In their 58th season as a program, the Bruins have claimed the 15th-most victories in NCAA Division I women's basketball (1,128).
• Belmont entered 2025-26 with the 30th-best all-time winning percentage (.658).
• The Bruins are one of only nine teams in the nation to have won 20-plus games for 10-straight seasons. UConn, South Carolina, Baylor, Iowa, NC State, Indiana, South Dakota State and Florida Gulf Coast are the others.
• Belmont's 73.1 winning percentage (226-83) over the previous 10 seasons is the highest of any Division I women's basketball program in the state of Tennessee.
• Belmont is the only school in the nation to win 20-plus games for 10 consecutive seasons in both women's and men's basketball.

A Championship Program

• The Bruins (11) are one of only six programs in the country to have won 10 or more combined conference championships, regular season and tournament, over the last 10 seasons. UConn (19), Florida Gulf Coast (16), South Carolina (14), South Dakota State (11) and Princeton (10) are the others.
• Since the 2015-16 season, Belmont has won 12 combined conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles.
• The Bruins have won 16 total conference championships – nine regular season and seven tournament titles – in Belmont's NCAA era.

National Postseason Success

• The Bruins have claimed seven national postseason wins in the last five years, including back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament round of 32 in 2021 and 2022.
• Belmont has earned a national postseason bid in 12 of the last 13 seasons, including six trips to the NCAA Tournament (2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016).
• The Bruins also reached the Big Dance in 2007 after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.
• Belmont has participated in the last two WBITs and the 2023 WNIT.
• Playing into April for the first time in school history, the Bruins rattled off four wins in the 2025 WBIT. After taking out nearby Middle Tennessee in the opening round, Belmont overcame a 21-point deficit against Northern Arizona in the second round. The Bruins then doubled up top-seeded James Madison, who was an NCAA Tournament bubble team and receiving votes in both national polls, by 45 points on the road in the quarterfinals. In the WBIT semifinals inside historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Belmont ousted BIG EAST Conference mainstay Villanova.
• The Bruins' comeback against the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona in the WBIT second round last March tied for the largest deficit overcome to win any NCAA postseason game in Division I women's basketball history.

Conference Dominance

• Including this season, Belmont has finished first or second in its conference in 10 of the last 11 years.
• The Bruins have finished in the top three of their conference in 14 of the last 15 seasons, including each of the last 11.
• Belmont has played in a conference tournament championship game eight of the last 10 years.
• Since the 2012-13 season, the Bruins have compiled a remarkable 204-44 (.823) record in conference play.
• Altogether, including conference tournaments, Belmont has gone 230-51 (.819) against league opponents across the last 14 seasons.

Head Coach Bart Brooks

• For the third-straight year, coach Brooks was named to the preseason watch list for the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats.
• In nine seasons, coach Brooks has compiled a remarkable 217-79 record. His 73.3 winning percentage ranks among the top 20 of active head coaches in Division I women's basketball.
• No other current Division I head coach with eight seasons or fewer under their belt has won more games than coach Brooks.
• Coach Brooks is a ridiculous 144-24 (.857) in conference action with nine combined championships, including regular season and tournament titles. He has never lost more than five league games in any given season and has finished no worse than third across two different conferences.
• Including conference tournament games, coach Brooks is an astonishing 161-28 (.852) against conference opponents.
• Over the last eight postseasons, coach Brooks has gone 24-11 (.686).
• In the key months of February and March under coach Brooks' direction, the Bruins are 99-21 (.825).
• Coach Brooks was the third-fastest head coach to 100 career victories in Division I women's basketball history (Leon Barmore, Louisiana Tech and Karl Smesko, Florida Gulf Coast).

Challenging the Nation's Best

• Coach Brooks and Belmont annually plays one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation and this season was no different.
• Six of the Bruins' 11 non-conference opponents were receiving votes in either or both the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 and USA TODAY Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches Poll. Belmont took on a trio of top-15 teams, including hosting No. 15/15 Kentucky on Dec. 14 after traveling to both No. 6/7 Oklahoma (Nov. 3) and No. 12/12 Tennessee (Nov. 13). In addition to hosting Duke (Dec. 20), who was receiving 13 votes in the coaches poll, and receiving-votes Princeton (Dec. 6), the Bruins went up against receiving-votes Ohio State in the Bahamas (Nov. 24).
• With Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ohio State, Princeton, Kentucky and Duke, Belmont faced six NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago during its non-conference slate. Of those, five reached at least the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament and three made it to the Sweet 16 with the Blue Devils continuing on to the Elite Eight.

Mid-Major Rankings

• The Bruins are receiving 14 votes in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.

Versus UIC

• Saturday afternoon will be just the eighth all-time meeting between the Bruins and UIC.
• Belmont has won each of the first seven matchups in the series, including a convincing 71-56 triumph over the visiting Flames in Nashville only three weeks ago on Feb. 13.
• In the two team's first meeting this season, the Bruins went 11-for-20 from distance and scored 40 second-half points on 6-for-11 shooting from outside. Belmont racked up 22 points off 12 UIC turnovers and got 19 points on 5-for-5 shooting from three-point range from Fuller.
• The Bruins are 2-0 versus the Flames in Chicago, defeating UIC 64-55 in the Windy City on Feb. 9 last year. In its first trip to Chicago to face the Flames in March of 2023, Belmont claimed an 81-56 win.
• The teams met in the 2024 MVC Tournament in Moline, Illinois, where the second-seeded Bruins ousted seventh-seeded UIC 70-65 in the quarterfinals.

About the Flames

• The Flames (14-16, 9-10 MVC) lost a heartbreaker in the final seconds to regular season champion Murray State Thursday night inside Credit Union 1 Arena. UIC led by five with under two minutes to go before the Racers' Halli Poock hit three game-winning free throws with a second left following a called foul on a three-point attempt.
• Prior to an 82-68 loss at Northern Iowa last Saturday, the Flames had won three in a row.
• UIC is 8-7 at home this season, including 5-4 at Credit Union 1 Arena in MVC play.
• Last season, the Flames finished seventh in the Valley with a 10-10 MVC record. UIC reached the quarterfinals of the MVC Tournament before bowing out to second-seeded Missouri State. The Flames received an at-large bid to the WNIT where they defeated UAB at home in the opening round before falling at Butler.
• UIC's 12.7 turnovers per game are 21st-fewest nationally.
• Senior 5-foot-7 guard Jessica Carrothers, an Indiana University Northwest (NAIA) and Butler transfer, is second in the MVC in scoring (18.4 PPG) and ranks in the top five in the conference in assists (4.3 APG).
• Redshirt sophomore 6-foot forward Julia Coleman, a Texas State transfer, is also averaging double figures (15.6 PPG) and leads the Flames on the boards (7.1 RPG).
• Sophomore 5-foot-6 guard TuTu Clayton is averaging near double figures (9.0 PPG), to go along with 2.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per outing.

Up Next
Belmont begins postseason play next Friday in the quarterfinals of the Credit Union 1 MVC Tournament in Coralville, Iowa. As the No. 2 seed, the Bruins will take on either the No. 7 seed or the No. 10 seed at 6 p.m. from Xtream Arena. The quarterfinal matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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.
 
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.