The Belmont women’s basketball team closed its second consecutive undefeated conference season with a gigantic 84-42 victory over the Tennessee State Tigers Saturday afternoon at the Curb Event Center.
Belmont and TSU battled it out for much of the first half, trailing within only a few points of each other. With just seven minutes to go in the half, junior guard Jenny Roy drained back to back threes to push Belmont to a 25-18 lead. Junior guard Darby Maggard and senior forward Kylee Smith tallied another 14 points to close the half at 42-29.
Smith kept momentum for the Bruins with a quick, open three to start the third quarter. Belmont would continue to outshoot TSU in the third, putting up 19 points against the visiting Tigers nine.
The Tigers’ head coach started the fourth quarter on a dramatic note, earning the team a technical foul just 30 seconds in. Maggard capitalized on the coaching error, scoring two uncontested foul shots for the Bruins.
Belmont would hold the Tigers to just four points throughout the fourth quarter, ending the game with a 40-point lead and the team’s 43rd consecutive league win.
The Bruins sent off this year’s senior class — Smith, Sally McCabe and Sierra Jones — on an appropriately high note. Smith earned a double-double, tallying an impressive 30 points and 10 rebounds, while McCabe earned 10 points. Jones also had a strong finish with nine rebounds and five assists.
Saturday’s matchup against the Tigers also featured strong, double-digit performances from the Bruins’ future leaders, Maggard (17) and Roy (13).
The Bruins will head to Evansville, Indiana Wednesday for the 2018 OVC Women’s Basketball Championship, where the team will look to grab its third straight championship title. The Bruins enter the tournament unsurprisingly ranked as the No. 1 seed.
— —
This article written by Anna Lanning. Photos by Carina Eudy.