Belmont women’s basketball lost a close battle on the road to the Murray State Racers 83-78 Sunday afternoon.
The Racers played their first home game in a week against the Bruins in a battle for a top spot in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Senior forward Kendall Cheeseman started the game off sparking-hot, hitting five-straight threes in the first half.
Racers forward Katelyn Young, the leading scorer in the Missouri Valley Conference, started off slow in the first half as the defense keyed in on her early.
After trailing 14-4 midway through the first quarter, Haven Ford drove the Racers on an explosive run, scoring 11 points to take the lead and close the first.
Rebounding issues for the Bruins showed itself again, with the Racers finishing the contest with 14 offensive rebounds to Belmont’s seven.
Murray State guard Ava Learn capitalized on Belmont’s inability to clean up the glass and finished the game with 16 rebounds.
After a scrappy finish to the second quarter, Belmont led 39-37 at half.
The story of ties and changing leads kept the game close, with neither team leading by more than six after the Bruins’ hot start.
Cheesman’s hot scoring kept rolling into the third. She finished the game with 25 points.
But multiple traveling violations, overthrown passes and stolen balls left the Bruins with 16 total turnovers, unable to take control of the game.
Leading early in the fourth 64-60, the Bruins never saw the lead again as multiple threes from Halli Poock gave the Racers a 72-67 lead.
Senior guards Tuti Jones and Kendall Holmes struggled versus the Racers, shooting a combined 6-16 and were unable to make up for Cheeseman’s slowed scoring in the fourth.
Scrappy defense and physical finishing by sophomore forward Jaylin Banks, who finished with 16 points, tied the game up at 72-72.
But a three by guard Briley Pena and multiple turnovers by the Bruins blew the game open for the Racers.
Driving down low, Young finished a tough and-one, electrifying an already ecstatic Racer’s home crowd as their lead extended to 77-74.
After senior forward Kendall Holmes scored to make it a 79-78 game, Ford dribbled out the clock before finishing at the rim vs Jones.
Leaving their timeout trailing 81-78 with 21 seconds remaining, the Bruins got the ball to Cheeseman for another three.
But the sharpshooter’s attempt fell short, forcing the Bruins to foul and send Ford to the line.
Trailing with 83-78 and one more chance to stay alive, Holmes shot a deep three that hit the front of the rim and bounced into the Racers’ hands.
The four-game losing streak puts the Bruins fifth in the standings, leaving little margin for error with four games left to play.
The Bruins will look to snap their untimely losing streak at home vs Southern Illinois on Thursday who is 2-14 in conference this season.
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This article was written by Seth Thorpe.
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