The nationally ranked Belmont women’s basketball team pulled off an enormous 80-56 win against the Morehead State Eagles Saturday at the Curb Event Center.
The Bruins, returning from three weeks on the road, battled it out with Morehead State in the first quarter, but the Bruins intense defense led the team to take a strong lead, making the score 18-2 at the end of the first quarter.
At the beginning of the second quarter, veteran players Darby Maggard and Sierra Jones added four points from breakaway steals within the first minute of the quarter, but immediately gave up four points off the foul line, changing the momentum.
The Eagles earned the majority of their points in this quarter alone, leaving the score 35-24, with the Bruins up going into the half.
At the start of the third, Sally McCabe added two to the scoreboard, getting the ball rolling for the Bruins. But Morehead State bounced back, closing the gap between the two teams to only seven points at 41-34 at the six minute mark.
A stealthy break away steal and assist from Jenny Roy to Kylee Smith for a three put the Bruins lead in the double digits once again.
Belmont earned 12 points overall in the third, while the Eagles trailed slowly behind, only acquiring two points with a score of 53-36 going into the fourth quarter of the game.
The last minutes were at a standstill for both Belmont and Morehead State, until two quick back-to-back threes from Maggard and Maura Muensterman at the 6:30 mark led Belmont to find its groove in this quarter.
McCabe found an open three, pushing the Bruins over the 70-point mark with four minutes to go. Smith also added two more to the scoreboard as she led the team with 17 points.
The score was 80-56 at the final buzzer as Belmont secured its 41st straight Ohio Valley Conference victory.
The Bruins will head out for their last away game of the season on Wednesday, Feb. 21, facing Jacksonville State University at 6 p.m..
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This article written by Anna Lanning