Hoops in the Heartland Semifinal Matchup with Third-Seeded Northern Iowa Up Next for Bruins

MOLINE, Ill. – Following a gritty 70-64 win over seventh-seeded Southern Illinois in its Missouri Valley Conference Tournament debut, the Belmont University women's basketball team takes on third-seeded Northern Iowa in the Hoops in the Heartland semifinals Saturday in the Quad Cities. The second-seeded Bruins (22-10, 17-3 MVC) are attempting to clinch their third consecutive spot in a conference tournament championship game. Tipoff from Vibrant Arena at The MARK in Moline, Illinois, is slated for 4 p.m.
 
The Saturday semifinal will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Scott Warmann (play-by-play) and Laura Leonard (analyst) serving as on-air talent. Dr. Rich Tiner will have the play-by-play call of the game on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeart Radio. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Belmont has been fueled by the inspired play of junior guard Destinee Wells over its last two games. The two-time Ohio Valley Conference Tournament MVP has accounted for 42 of the Bruins' closing 51 points the last two wins combined.
• Belmont won its sixth regular season conference championship in seven seasons last Saturday with a tough 70-67 victory at Valparaiso, ending the regular season on a 14-game winning streak.
• The Bruins' extended their winning streak to 15 Friday evening with their MVC Tournament quarterfinal victory over the Salukis. Belmont's 15-game winning streak is tied with Toledo as the sixth-longest active winning streak in the nation.
• The Bruins have won 15 in a row by an average margin of 15.9 points.
• Belmont has reached 20 wins for the eighth consecutive season.
• The Bruins are one of only three non-power conference programs to win 20 or more games for eighth-straight seasons, Florida Gulf Coast and South Dakota State are the other two.
• Belmont is the only school in the country to win 20-plus games in both men's and women's basketball for eight consecutive seasons.
• The Bruins are an unblemished 11-0 in February and March.
• Belmont has not lost a game in 55 days – the Bruins' last setback came at home on Jan. 15 against Illinois State (70-56).
• After starting the season 3-7, Belmont has won 19 of its last 22 games.
• Seven of the Bruins' 10 non-conference opponents will most likely be in the NCAA Tournament field.
• Belmont has defeated two 2023 NCAA Tournament automatic qualifiers in Chattanooga (56-54) and Saint Louis (78-68).
• The Bruins are 19-1 in conference tournaments since 2016 and 22-4 in their last 11 league postseason championships. Belmont is 6-0 in its last six conference tournament title games.
• Head coach Bart Brooks has lost just one conference tournament game in his six seasons leading the program, going 13-1 with four tournament titles. He is a perfect 4-0 in conference tournament championship games.
• Since 2012-13, the Bruins have compiled a remarkable 157-32 (.831) record in league play and won 12 combined championships, including regular season and tournament titles.
• Coach Brooks is an astounding 97-12 (.890) in conference action over his six seasons guiding Belmont.
• Altogether, the Bruins have gone 179-36 (.833) against league opposition, including conference tournaments, over the last 11 seasons.
• Belmont's MVC regular season crown in its first season in the league is the Bruins' ninth regular season conference championship – five in the Ohio Valley Conference (2021-22, 2019-20, 2018-19, 2017-18, 2016-17) and three in the ASUN Conference (2006-07, 2005-06, 2003-04). Belmont has won a combined 16 conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles, in its NCAA era.
• For three-straight games the Bruins have had a 30-point scorer. Junior forward Madison Bartley scored a career-high 31 points in last Thursday's road win at the University of Illinois Chicago to become the third Belmont player to record 30 points in a contest this season.
• Wells has scored over 30 points in back-to-back games, totaling a near career-best 34 points on 11-for-17 shooting in Friday's quarterfinal win after tallying 31 last Saturday at Valparaiso.
• Graduate guard Sydni Harvey scored 33 points versus Troy on Dec. 20.
• Wells' 34 points Friday against Southern Illinois tied for the sixth-most in a MVC Tournament game. She scored 22 of the Bruins' last 27 points from the six-minute mark of the third quarter forward. Last Saturday against the Beacons, Wells scored 26 second-half points and had 20 of Belmont's 24 points in the fourth quarter. She is the only player in the nation to score 20 points in a fourth quarter this season.
• Wells has scored over 25 points in three of her last four outings and owns three 30-point games on the season, including recording a career-high 35 points on Feb. 12 in a home win over Indiana State. Her 34-point showing Friday evening was Wells' fourth career 30-point game and 14th career 25-point contest. She has reached 20 points on 12 occasions this season.
• With 1,551 career points, Wells is in eighth place on the Bruins' all-time scoring list. She passed current director of basketball operations Sally McCabe for third place on Belmont's NCAA era career scoring list Friday.
• Wells has scored in double figures for 16-straight games, while Bartley has reached double figures in 14 of the last 16 games.
• Wells is one of only five players in the nation averaging over 18 points and at least 5.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds.
• Wells is averaging 22.6 points, 4.7 assists and 1.3 steals in March for her career.
• With a block around the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter on the road against the Flames last weekend, Bartley registered her 100th career block. She needs only 26 more points to become the Bruins' 34th 1,000-point scorer and is eight rebounds away from 400 for her career.
• Since being reinserted into Belmont's starting lineup on Jan. 20 versus Missouri State, the Bruins have gone 15-0 with Bartley averaging 18.5 points and 5.5 rebounds.
• Miller notched her third double-double of the season and team-best fourth of her career last Thursday at UIC with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She had nearly her fourth double-double of the season Friday with nine points and nine boards.
• Miller is one of only nine players in the country averaging at least 6.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting over 50 percent from the floor.
• Harvey won her 100th career game on senior day (Feb. 25) versus Drake.
• Sophomore guard Kilyn McGuff is averaging 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in 23 starts this season.
• Belmont is averaging 78.7 points over its last nine games and has scored at least 80 points six times during that stretch.
• In February and March, the Bruins have been at their best. Belmont is a stunning 88-11 (.889) in the two key months since 2016 and coach Brooks has led the Bruins to a 68-8 (.895) record in February and March since his arrival in Nashville.
• Saturday afternoon will be just the third meeting between Belmont and the Panthers with the first two matchups between the teams taking place this season. The Bruins swept the regular season by an average of only 5.5 points. Belmont grabbed a 67-61 win at Northern Iowa during its first road trip of 2023 on Jan. 8 and defeated the visiting Panthers 82-77 just two-and-a-half weeks ago on Feb. 23. McGuff led the Bruins in scoring in both games, averaging 17 points on 54.5 percent (12-of-22) shooting and six rebounds.
• Belmont is ranked just outside the top 80 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings at No. 81 as the third-highest ranked MVC team.
• The Bruins' non-conference strength of schedule is ranked as the ninth-most difficult in the nation. Furthermore, Belmont's average opponent NET ranking (No. 141) is 86th-highest in the country.
• Four different Bruins have posted multiple 20-point performances this season with Wells leading the way (12), followed by Bartley (8), McGuff (3) and Harvey (2).
• Belmont received seven votes in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 and eight votes in the USA Today Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches Poll following week one of the regular season. The Bruins received 14 votes in the preseason AP Top 25 and nine votes in the preseason USA Today Sports/WBCA Coaches Poll.
• One of the premier mid-major programs in the country, Belmont began the season ranked No. 6 in the nation in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25^® and is currently ranked 16th in the mid-major poll.
• Entering their first season in the MVC, the Bruins were picked to win the conference after a vote of the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media members. Belmont received 32 of 44 possible first-place votes in the preseason predicted order of finish.
• Ranked 25th in Sports Illustrated's 2022-23 basketball preview edition, the Bruins have either been ranked or received votes in at least one of the two major national polls for eight-straight seasons.
• Belmont is the only non-power conference program to reach the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 each of the last two seasons.
• The Bruins have earned a national postseason bid nine of the last 10 years and reached each of the last six NCAA Tournaments.
• Belmont owns the 17th-most victories in NCAA Division I women's basketball history (1,056).
• In 2021-22, Belmont and BYU were the only two schools in the nation who received votes in top-25 coaches polls in men's and women's basketball and baseball during their respective regular seasons.
• In his sixth season at the helm, coach Brooks has guided the Bruins to an impressive 145-44 (.767) record and nine combined conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles.

About the Panthers

• Led by 16th-year head coach Tanya Warren, who has taken Northern Iowa to all three of its NCAA Tournaments and is the dean of MVC women's basketball coaches, the Panthers have won four in a row and five of their last six.
• Northern Iowa (22-8) went 16-4 in MVC play, finishing just one game back from regular season co-champions Belmont and Illinois State.
• The Panthers defeated sixth-seeded UIC 73-57 in the MVC Tournament quarterfinal nightcap Friday.
• Grace Boffeli, a 6-foot-1 sophomore forward who is an All-MVC First Team selection, is averaging a team-best 16.5 points per game and had a game-high 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting and eight rebounds Friday against the Flames.
• Northern Iowa also features MVC Most Improved Player and All-MVC Second Team member Maya McDermott, a 5-foot-6 sophomore guard who is averaging 14.3 points per contest.

Up Next
With a semifinal win Saturday, the Bruins would face either top-seeded Illinois State (24-7, 17-3 MVC) or fourth-seeded Drake (20-9, 14-6 MVC) Sunday afternoon in the Hoops in the Heartland championship at 1 p.m. Sunday's title game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
 
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