Coming out of the halftime, Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament No.1 seeded James Madison University still had a chance to make a comeback.
Being down 20 to start the half wasn’t ideal, but it certainly wasn’t insurmountable.
They opened on a good start with a quick bucket from red-shirted senior guard Jamia Hazell to cut the lead to 18.
But then graduate guard Tuti Jones caught heat from deep.
Three-point make, after three-point make, after three-point make, Jones shooting from deep put the game away for the Bruins.
It seemed like she couldn’t miss, and in the third quarter, she only missed one of her six three-point shots.
With a team-leading 26 points and a career-high 8 three-pointers from Jones along with 22 points from graduate guard Kendall Holmes, Belmont won 90-45 against the Dukes.
“I think we always come out with confidence and an aggressive mentality but tonight our shots were just hitting,” said Holmes.
The Bruins sunk the team’s season-high 18 three-pointers in this game with seven coming in the third quarter from Jones and Holmes.
“Everything’s better when you make shots, and I thought our players had a great focus and a great edge,” said head coach Bart Brooks. “We carried over the fourth quarter from last Sunday on to the court.”
This win was also Belmont’s largest of the season and cemented the team’s spot in the semifinals of the WBIT.
Everything went right for the Bruins in their first game ever against the Dukes.
The Bruins, apart from Holmes and Jones, extended the Bruins’ lead with good looks in the paint and converted shots from deep, hitting on 46% of their shots from both areas.
Belmont also played tough defense, holding a James Madison team that normally scores around 73 points a game to just 45 on the night. The team also got 12 steals to go along with four blocks on the night.
The Dukes just couldn’t seem to string together a stretch on offense or defense to match the Bruins' intensity in both.
The Bruins now move on to the WBIT semifinals at Hinkle Fieldhouse to play the Villanova Wildcats on Monday.
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This article was written by Braden Simmons
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