Women's Basketball Closes Out Indiana Road Trip Sunday

 
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – In the midst of a four-game road stretch, the Belmont University women's basketball team wraps up its stay in the Hoosier State Sunday at Indiana State. Tipoff between the Bruins (11-4, 4-0 MVC) and the Sycamores (5-9, 1-3 MVC) is slated for 12 p.m. CT/1 p.m. ET from the Hulman Center in downtown Terre Haute, Indiana.
 
The midday matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Kelsie Kasper (play-by-play) and Adrian Madrid (analyst) on the call. The game can also be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeart Radio with Dr. Rich Tiner providing play-by-play of the action. Live in-game statistics will be available at BelmontBruins.com.
 
What's Bruin

• Belmont seeks a 5-0 start in Missouri Valley Conference play in just its second season in the Valley.
• Winners of four in a row, the Bruins are coming off back-to-back 40-point blowouts with a 44-point (84-40) road rout of Evansville midday Friday and a 42-point (89-47) home drubbing of Bradley last Saturday afternoon.
• Belmont has earned consecutive 40-point wins for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
• Leading the MVC in both scoring (60.1 PPG) and field goal percentage (.379) defense, the Bruins have given up no more than 61 points in their four league outings.
• Belmont has held 10 of its 15 opponents this season under 65 points and kept seven teams under 60 points.
• Friday's triumph over the Purple Aces was the Bruins' largest margin of victory since throttling Southern Illinois 101-45 in Nashville on Jan. 22, 2023.
• Head coach Bart Brooks earned his 100th career conference win in only 112 league games last Saturday with Belmont's lopsided win over the visiting Braves.
• The Bruins are 3-2 in true road games this season and have gone 4-3 away from the Music City.
• Two of Belmont's four losses have been against top-15 opponents.
• Prior to the Bruins' loss at 13th-ranked Ohio State in their non-conference finale, Belmont had won five straight. The Bruins have put together at least a five-game winning streak in 12-straight seasons going back to 2012-13.
• Belmont moved up five spots in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25^® and is now ranked in the top 10 at No. 10.

 
Last Time Out

• Improving to 13-1 all-time at the Ford Center in Evansville, the Bruins outplayed the host Purple Aces in every facet of the game. Belmont set season highs in made field goals (32), assists (20) and rebounds (54) and never trailed.
• All 12 available Bruins got at least three minutes on the court and 10 different players scored. Belmont scored 27 points off the bench.
• Holding a plus-20 advantage on the glass (54-34), the Bruins outscored Evansville 34-22 in the paint and earned 20 points off 19 Purple Ace turnovers. Belmont scored 26 points in the second quarter alone and outpaced Evansville 49-20 between the second and third periods.
• Allowing only seven points in the fourth quarter, the Bruins shut the Purple Aces out in the final 6:32 of the contest. Belmont limited Evansville to 24.6 percent shooting and only 15 field goals (15-of-61).
• Shooting 46.4 percent from the field, the Bruins went 10-for-27 from beyond the arc.
• Six players scored at least nine points and four reached double figures led by junior forward Kendal Cheesman's first career double-double. Cheesman tallied 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while fellow junior forward Tessa Miller scored a game-high 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting and snagged seven boards. Freshman standout guard Jailyn Banks notched 14 points and distributed a career-best six assists. Off the bench, sophomore guard Emily La Chapell reached double figures for the second time in four games with 10 points on 2-for-3 marksmanship from outside.
• In her second career start, senior guard Blair Schoenwald went 3-for-4 from three-point range and came up with a career-high tying three steals. For the second-straight game, freshman guard Kensley Feltner scored nine points as she went 4-for-5 from the floor.

 
Another Challenging Non-Conference

• Once again playing one of the most strenuous non-conference schedules in the nation, Belmont went 7-4 with its four losses coming against power conference opponents. Three of the Bruins' four losses were away from Nashville as Belmont went 4-1 at the Curb Event Center.
• Six of the Bruins' 11 non-conference opponents were from power conferences. Five of Belmont's first six games of the season were against power conference programs.
• The Bruins defeated two power conference teams during the non-conference portion of the schedule, routing Southeastern Conference mainstay Georgia 76-50 in Belmont's home opener on Nov. 10 and toppling the Big Ten Conference's Northwestern 83-61 at the Ball Dawgs Classic in Las Vegas on Nov. 24.
• The Bruins own five victories over power conference teams in four seasons. In addition to the Lady Bulldogs and the Wildcats, Belmont has earned wins against Oregon, Ole Miss and Auburn in recent years.
• The Bruins also came within a point of defeating receiving-votes Mississippi State on Sunday, Nov. 19 inside the Curb. A free-throw line jumper by Banks and a putback attempt from junior guard Kilyn McGuff both rimmed off in the final seconds.

 
Player Notes

• Miller has scored in double figures in all but two games this season and has distributed at least three assists in six games. She led all Belmont scorers at top-15 ranked Ohio State with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting after scoring a career-best 19 points in the win at Kennesaw State where she knocked down a career-high nine free throws on nine attempts. In the Bruins' battle with top-five ranked Stanford at the Ball Dawgs Classic in the desert, Miller went 9-for-16 from the floor for 18 points after registering her fifth career double-double in Belmont's trouncing of Georgia with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
• Off to a sensational start to her collegiate career, Banks is the reigning MVC Freshman of the Week and has been selected for the conference weekly award four times already (Jan. 9, Dec. 11, Nov. 20, Nov. 13). Reaching double figures in 11 of her first 15 games, Banks is second on the team in scoring (13.0 PPG). A native of Spring Hill, Tennessee (Middle Tennessee Christian School), Banks tallied 23 points in the season opener at Missouri, the fourth-most by any true freshman this season making her debut.
• Cheesman is proving to be one of the most elite three-point shooters in the country. Shooting 48.9 percent (22-of-45) from three-point range at the Curb this season, Cheesman is an impressive 44.7 percent (34-of-76) from deep. She pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds versus the fourth-ranked Cardinal and scored a game-high 21 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including going 4-for-7 from outside, in the convincing win over Northwestern inside The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada. In her first career start, Cheesman erupted for a career-high 28 points on 9-for-15 three-point shooting and collected nine boards in the home blowout of the Lady Bulldogs. Her nine three-pointers are tied for the third-most by a NCAA Division I women's basketball player in a game this season and were just one shy of both the single-game program and Curb Event Center record. The Tampa, Florida (H.B. Plant HS), native became the first player since at least 2009-10 to make nine threes and secure nine rebounds against a power conference team. For her performance, Cheesman was selected as Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Player of the Week (Nov. 14).
• After her true junior season was cut short due to injury last year, guard Tuti Jones returned for the opener against the Tigers and has distributed at least four assists in 11 of the first 15 games of the season. Averaging a team-best 4.1 assists per game, Jones earned her second career double-double versus the Wildcats in Vegas with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists. Against the nationally-ranked Buckeyes, Jones racked up a season-high five steals. The Troy, Alabama (Charles Henderson HS), native has totaled 207 career steals, which ranks among the top 10 in program history. In fact, Jones is third in the Bruins' NCAA era in steals as she ranks behind only Erica Davenport (210) and Tara Montgomery (244). Named to the preseason All-MVC Second Team, Jones was the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year and an All-OVC First Team selection as a sophomore in 2021-22.
• Going up against her father's program, McGuff secured a team-high six rebounds at Ohio State. She has scored in double figures on six occasions this season and notched two double-doubles. After recording her first career double-double in the win at Troy with 18 points and 10 boards, McGuff scored a season-best 22 points in the home victory over receiving-votes Middle Tennessee. For those two performances, McGuff captured her first MVC Player of the Week award on Dec. 4. In the 77th Battle of the Boulevard versus nearby rival Lipscomb, McGuff had a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with 13 points.
• In just her second game donning the Belmont jersey, La Chapell scored a career-high 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting. After spending her freshman year at the BIG EAST Conference's Marquette, La Chapell made her Bruin debut in the MVC opener versus the University of Illinois Chicago. In the 64-52 win over fellow defending MVC regular season champion Illinois State to start the new year, La Chapell had a breakout game as she went 2-for-4 from long range and added a trio of boards and a block.

 
Among the Toughest Schedules in the Nation

• A total of 14 opponents on Belmont's schedule had a winning record in 2022-23, while 10 adversaries won 20 or more games last season and 12 made a national postseason tournament last March.
• The Bruins' schedule also features six NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago.

 
Nothing but NET

• Six of Belmont's 15 opponents thus far are ranked in the top 90 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), including No. 2 Stanford and No. 18 Ohio State. The Bruins are currently 65th in the NET.
• Indiana State enters Sunday 248th in the NET, the fourth-lowest ranked MVC team in the national metric.

 
Storied Success

• Belmont won its sixth regular season conference championship in seven seasons last year. The Bruins have captured nine regular season conference titles in Belmont's NCAA era. Including the regular season and league tournament, the Bruins have won 16 combined conference championships in three different Division I conferences (MVC, OVC and Atlantic Sun Conference).
• Belmont is one of only 11 teams in the nation to have won 20 or more games for eight-straight seasons.
• The Bruins (11) are one of only three programs to have won more than 10 combined conference championships (regular season and tournament) over the last seven seasons. UConn (14) and Florida Gulf Coast (12) are the other two.
• Belmont is the only school in the nation to win 20-plus games for eight consecutive seasons in both women's and men's basketball.
• The Bruins have either been ranked or received votes in at least one of the two major national polls each of the last eight seasons.
• Belmont has won the 17th-most games in NCAA Division I women's basketball history (1,068).

 
Conference Dominance

• Since the 2012-13 season, the Bruins have compiled a remarkable 161-32 (.834) record in league play and won 12 combined championships, including regular season and tournament titles.
• Coach Brooks is a ridiculous 101-12 (.894) in conference action in seven seasons.
• Altogether, including conference tournaments, Belmont has gone 184-37 (.833) against league opposition over the last 12 seasons.

 
Under Coach Brooks

• In his seventh season at the helm, coach Brooks picked up his 150th win in less than 200 career games with the Bruins' 72-68 victory at Troy on Nov. 29.
• Coach Brooks was named to the preseason watch list for the 2024 Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats. Since his arrival in Nashville, he has led Belmont to a 157-50 (.758) record, four NCAA Tournaments and back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 in 2021 and 2022. The third-fastest head coach to 100 career victories in Division I women's basketball history, Brooks owns an astounding record of 115-14 (.891) against conference opponents, including conference tournament games. He ranks among the top 10 of active Division I head coaches in terms of winning percentage.

 
MVC Preseason Poll

• The Bruins were picked fourth in the MVC but gained one first-place vote in the preseason predicted order of finish after capturing a regular season championship in Belmont's first year in the conference in 2022-23. Going 23-12 overall and 17-3 in the Valley, the Bruins reached their third-straight conference tournament title game and made their 10th national postseason appearance in 11 seasons with an at-large bid to the WNIT.

 
Versus Indiana State

• This weekend will be the eighth all-time meeting between the two schools with Belmont holding a 5-2 lead in the series.
• The Bruins won both of last season's matchups by an average of 13 points, which included a 65-51 victory inside the Hulman Center last January. Belmont also defeated the Sycamores 81-69 at the Curb last February.
• In the last meeting between the two teams in Nashville, Cheesman scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds while McGuff posted 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting.
• Prior to the Bruins joining the Valley in 2022, Indiana State defeated Belmont 48-34 in Terre Haute during the 2012-13 season.

 
About the Sycamores

• Led by interim head coach/associate head coach Deidra Johnson in head coach Chad Killinger's absence, the Sycamores have lost three straight.
• Indiana State won its MVC opener at Evansville (66-49) but has faltered on the road at Drake (77-47) and Northern Iowa (85-79) and at home versus Murry State (75-63).
• The Sycamores earned non-conference victories against Southeast Missouri (65-57), Central Michigan (73-65), Radford (64-52) and Northern Kentucky (85-82) in overtime. Like the Bruins, Indiana State traveled to Missouri in early November where the Sycamores were handed a 98-57 loss.
• Indiana State was picked ninth in the MVC Preseason Poll after tying with the Purple Aces for ninth place last year. Going 6-14 in the Valley, the Sycamores finished 11-19 overall in 2022-23.
• Four players average between 10 and 11 points per game, led by fifth-year 6-0 forward Chelsea Cain (10.9 PPG). Redshirt senior 6-foot forward Mya Glanton leads Indiana State in rebounding (8.2 RPG) and is averaging 10.1 points per contest.
• Senior 6-foot guard Kiley Bess, a Saint Louis transfer, is averaging 10.8 points per outing and sophomore 6-foot guard Bella Finnegan, a returning MVC All-Freshman Team selection, is averaging 10.3 points.
• Fifth-year 5-foot-9 guard Ella Sawyer leads the team in assists (3.1 APG).

 
Up Next
Belmont travels to Iowa next weekend, visiting Drake Friday evening and taking on Northern Iowa next Sunday, Jan. 21. Friday's primetime matchup will tipoff at 6 p.m. from the Knapp Center in Des Moines. The MVC featured game of the week will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, simulcast on ESPN+.
 
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.