In the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament, the Belmont Bruins won 64-51 against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders to move on to the second round.
Following a loss against the Murray State Racers in the Missouri Valley Conference championship, Belmont received a bid as the third seed in the WBIT.
It started with a rematch against MTSU, whom Belmont previously won against in December.
“Playing against a familiar opponent; that's a challenge for both teams,” said head coach Bart Brooks. “I thought both teams showed up ready to play, and there was some good rhythm early.”
Though after a 26-8 season and a shot at the Conference USA Championship game, the Blue Raiders would make this a much scrappier affair than the previous matchup.
The game opened as a back-and-forth affair with neither team able to take a commanding lead.
Belmont’s leading scorer and all-MVC first-team forward Kendal Cheesman would hit a three and the first points for Belmont but was subbed out for a large portion of the first quarter after rolling her ankle.
Senior Center Anastasiia Boldyreva had the last six points of the quarter for MTSU.
She also finished with her 12th double-double of the season.
Cheesman would return later in the quarter but even in her absence, Belmont competed well and exited the quarter only down a point.
Graduate guard Tuti Jones hit some crucial shots in the stretch to keep the Bruins in the game and to give herself six points in the quarter.
Jones would also finish with a team-leading 11 points and two steals.
“I think one of the reasons why we're such a great team is because any player at any time can have a night where they are the leading scorer,” said Jones.
Cheesman would also finish with nine points while racking in a game-high 12 rebounds.
“I love this group, and I just want the season we go as deep as we can, and we're really competitive,” said Cheesman.
The Bruins would flip the script coming into the second quarter going on a 17-8 run.
Belmont would continue its dominant play coming into the second half with stifling defense holding the Blue Raiders to eight points in the third quarter.
“I thought our players did an incredible job of being disciplined and being in the right place and being where we asked them to be over and over and over,” said Brooks.
The Bruins would score 19 points in the third to extend their lead to 19 behind two open 3-pointers from graduate guard Jacee Busick.
Belmont would never really lose momentum continuing to push the pace and closing out with the win.
The Bruins now move on to the second round against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Sunday at the Curb Event Center.
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This article was written by Braden Simmons