Women's Basketball Outlasts Drake to Remain Unbeaten in MVC Play

Tuti Jones maneuvers through Drake defenders. Photo taken by Nick Rampe.

Belmont’s women’s basketball team won a wild game against the Drake University Bulldogs 78-69 at the Curb Event Center Friday.  

Some fourth-quarter injuries and an unlikely late-game hero made sure this matchup of two undefeated teams in Missouri Valley Conference play lived up to the billing, with 13 lead changes and four ties between the two teams. 

“I thought we had to overcome a lot of challenges, and give Drake credit, they played aggressively. They made the 50/50 plays, and they made the game tight down the stretch,” Bruins head coach Bart Brooks said. 

The first quarter was a back-and-forth battle, as Drake used the momentum from a 7-0 run and parlayed it to an 18-16 advantage at the end of the first frame. 

The Bulldogs fought off an early surge and took a 22-20 lead with 8:56 to go in the first half, but they would not score again for over five and a half minutes. 

During that stretch, Belmont went on an 11-0 run and forced seven turnovers to give the Bruins a 29-20 advantage.  

Drake finally broke through when junior Brooklin Dailey found senior Abbie Aalsma for a 3-pointer to cut Belmont’s lead to 29-23 with 3:26 to go in the half. 

The Bulldogs scored on their next four consecutive trips down the court to go on a 12-1 run. Dailey and sophomore Grace Knutson scored or assisted on all 12 points.  

With 1:02 left in the half, Belmont stopped the bleeding and re-tied the game at 32 apiece after two free throws from junior Jailyn Banks. 

Belmont got the ball back with a little over 30 seconds to go, still tied at 32, and after passing the ball around for a while, graduate student Tuti Jones hoisted a 3-pointer that missed. 

However, her shot rolled along the top of the backboard and right into the hands of Strickland, who got the ball back to Jones for a deep, last-second three-pointer to give the Bruins a 35-32 advantage at the halfway point.  

“I’ve missed a lot of shots in my days, so I was just hoping the next one was going in,” said Jones. 

The third quarter was neck-and-neck most of the way through, as there were six ties or lead changes in the quarter alone.  

Down 42-41 with 5:09 to go in the third, Strickland responded with a 3-point play that ignited a 12-3 run from the Bruins.  

The Bruins made every shot they took during the run, five layups and two free throws, and stretched their lead out to 53-45 with 2:45 left to play in the third quarter.  

Drake engineered a 6-0 run of their own, culminating in a layup from freshman Quinn Vice to cut the lead to 2 with 1:18 left in the third quarter.  

Banks quickly answered with a 3-point play to give Belmont a 56-51 lead before Vice responded with a 3-pointer to cut the Bruins’ lead to two heading into the fourth quarter. 

The Bulldogs took the lead after a couple of baskets in the paint, but Jones connected from deep to give the Bruins a 59-58 lead with 8:45 left in the game. 

However, with 7 minutes to go, Banks, Belmont’s co-leading scorer at the time, went down with a leg injury and would not return.  

After trading a couple of buckets back and forth, the Bruins lost another major contributor, sophomore Hilary Fuller, who picked up her fifth personal foul on a moving screen call.  

Then, after hitting a layup to put the Bruins up 71-66 with 2:21 to go, sophomore Sanaa Tripp’s nose started to bleed after a hit to the head, and she left the game. 

So, the Bruins, down three players who had combined to play 63 minutes and score 27 points, put in redshirt junior Claire Hyde after playing just three minutes earlier in the first half.  

After reentering, Hyde’s first play on offense saw her chase an errant pass head-first into the scorer’s table for a nasty collision.  

Claire Hyde falls into the scorer’s table. Photo taken by Nick Rampe.

After a turnover on defense, Jones found Hyde for a deep, game-sealing three-pointer that led the sparsely-filled student section to chant her name.  

Hyde took a brutal charge that was upgraded to a flagrant 1 foul the next time down the court on defense, and afterwards, she checked out of the game as a hero.  

“We always talk about being ready when your number is called, and she is the epitome of that,” said Brooks. “It’s really hard when you don’t get to play to stay locked in and to stay engaged, and she does that as well as anyone I’ve ever coached.” 

Claire Hyde fires up the Belmont bench after hitting a late-game 3-pointer. Photo taken by Nick Rampe. 

Brooks also spoke about Jones’s impact in the second half, “I always think we have a chance when Tuti is on the court.” 

“She knows where everyone is supposed to be, and she helps everyone else get to where they are supposed to be,” elaborated Brooks. 

Jones led Belmont with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field. Banks and graduate Avery Strickland both finished with 13 points for the Bruins. 

Defensively, junior KK Brodie turned in an impressive night with five blocks, tying a career high, and two steals in her fifth straight game with at least 20 minutes played. 

The win placed the Bruins atop the MVC standings with their 5-0 conference record, including four straight conference wins over the last four games.  

The Bruins are back in action again on Sunday against the Northern Iowa Panthers at the Curb Event Center in a matchup of top-three MVC opponents.   

This article was written by Sam Dicus