
In a clash between two of the Missouri Valley Conference’s best, Belmont women’s basketball came out on top in an 80-65 win against the Drake Bulldogs Thursday night.
Coming into the game, Drake was looking to tighten its grip on the No. 1 in the MVC and extend its winning streak to double digits.
Drake won the tip and scored the first points, but Belmont would respond with a three of its own.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair with the teams trading buckets through the first quarter.
Graduate guard Kendall Holmes led the charge with nine points behind a pair of threes and a late and-one basket.
Holmes would close the night with 17 points.
Junior guard Katie Dinnebier kept the Bulldogs in the game with 10 first quarter points, leading Drake in scoring on the night with 21 points.
“They’re always really prepared for every situation, and they’re a challenge,” he said. “I thought we had great answers and played with pretty good effort.”
In the second quarter, the Bruins would come out swinging on the Bulldogs with an 18-7 run capped off with back-to-back threes and a jump shot from graduate guard Tuti Jones.
Jones led the Bruins with 22 points, which was her season high.
“Tuti is one of the best guards I’ve ever coached and that’s on both sides of the ball. She’s competitive, she’s tough and she was ready to play today,” said head coach Bart Brooks.
Belmont would close out the second quarter with an eight-point lead looking to extend their win streak to four.
Belmont played stifling defense, holding the Bulldogs to 13 points while pushing the pace on offense and extending its lead.
“Drake is a really good team, so we came into this game making sure that we were playing together and focusing on our defensive matchups,” said Jones. “Getting stops was a huge key to our win.”
Jones scored another 10 third-quarter points leading the Bruins to a 17-point lead.
Belmont continued to match the Bulldogs shot for shot, maintaining its double-digit lead.
With the win, Belmont is in the mix for the top seed in the MVC alongside Drake and Murray State University.
The Bruins will continue their road stint Saturday against the Northern Iowa Panthers.
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This article was written by Braden Simmons
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