Nashville Standard

In its most dominant victory of the season thus far, the Belmont University women's basketball team defeated the University of Illinois Chicago 72-59 on New Year's Day inside the Curb Event Center in the Music City. Earning their third consecutive win, the Bruins improve to 2-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference and 6-7 overall.
 
Belmont nearly led for the entirety of Sunday afternoon and held a double-digit lead from the end of the opening quarter forward. Junior guard Destinee Wells turned in her sixth 20-point outing of the season with a game-high 25 points and junior forward Madison Bartley notched her second career double-double with 18 points and a season-best 10 rebounds.
 
Limiting the visiting Flames (8-5, 0-2 MVC) to 27.6 percent (16-of-58) shooting, including 2-for-15 (13.3 percent) from beyond the arc, the Bruins owned an advantage on the boards (37-34) for the second-straight game.
 
Overcoming 16 turnovers, which turned into 18 UIC points, Belmont shot nearly 50 percent from the floor going 25-for-51 (49 percent) and connected on eight of its 19 three-point attempts (42.1 percent).
 
Wells scored 10 of her 25 points in the first quarter alone and the Bruins led from the six-minute mark of the period onward. A 6-5 lead by the Flames quickly evaporated with three consecutive Belmont baskets before Wells put the Bruins up 15-8 on her second three-pointer of the quarter. Closing the quarter on an impressive 16-4 run, Bartley nailed a triple right before the first-quarter buzzer to give Belmont a 21-10 lead.
 
The Bruins' advantage ballooned to 18 a little over two minutes into the second quarter as sophomore forward Kendal Cheesman opened with a trey. Belmont's 7-0 start to the quarter was matched by UIC but Wells hit a challenged step back wing three to give the Bruins a 34-19 lead with three minutes to go in the half. Moments later, sophomore forward Tessa Miller made her first career three-pointer from the top of the key to put Belmont back up by 18.
 
After shooting 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from the field and going 7-for-14 from deep in the first half, the Bruins took a 37-21 lead into the break. Wells had 18 points in the first half on 4-for-5 outside shooting. Belmont held the Flames to only five made field goals across the opening 20 minutes of play (5-of-25), but UIC went 10-for-10 at the free-throw line in the half.
 
A somewhat sluggish start to the second half trimmed the Bruins' lead to 13 twice before a Wells layup capped an 11-4 Belmont run, giving the home team their first 20-point advantage of the day at 51-31 with 2:46 left in the third quarter. Bartley then made back-to-back layups to push the lead to 21 with a minute remaining in the third. The Bruins took an 18-point, 55-37 lead into the final quarter of action.

After the Flames started the fourth quarter on a 6-2 run, Belmont strung together eight-straight points. A Miller layup with 4:17 to go gave the Bruins their largest lead of the contest at 65-43.
 
Although UIC outscored Belmont 16-7 across the final 4:02, freshman guard Brooke Highmark drained a triple in the last 30 seconds to put an exclamation point on the triumph.
 
The fourth was the only quarter the Bruins shot under 50 percent, finishing 6-for-15 (40 percent) from the field. The Flames went 10-for-10 at the foul line in the fourth quarter and were 15-of-18 (83.3 percent) in the second half.

Going 1-for-5 from distance, Belmont shot 46.4 percent (13-of-28) in the second half as UIC was 1-for-11 from long range and shot 33.3 percent (11-of-33) overall.

The charity stripe accounted for 25 of the Flames' 59 total points and UIC got 18 points off its bench. The Flames collected 16 offensive rebounds, which turned into 17 second-chance points, and UIC outscored the Bruins 28-26 in the paint.

Wells finished 10-for-16 from the floor, including 4-for-6 from deep, and Bartley made seven of her 10 field goal attempts. She also came up with a season-high three steals.
 
Miller accounted for a season-best nine points, grabbed five rebounds and made a season-high three blocks. Senior guard Nikki Baird tied her career high in rebounds with eight.

Starting guard Jaida McCloud led the way for the Flames with 23 points on 15-for-18 free-throw shooting and a team-high nine rebounds. UIC also got 10 points from both starting forward Josie Filer and Danyel Middleton.

Of Note
Belmont has began conference play 2-0 six of the last 11 seasons and 10 times total in its NCAA era. The Bruins have won each of their last three New Year's Day games. Since 2012-13, Belmont has compiled a remarkable 142-29 (.830) record in league play. Head coach Bart Brooks is an astounding 82-9 (.901) in conference play over his six seasons guiding the Bruins. Sunday was the first-ever meeting between Belmont and UIC. The Bruins have won three games in a row for the first time this season. Bartley's only other career double-double was achieved on New Year's Day 2022 when she recorded 21 points and 14 rebounds in a 71-57 road victory at Eastern Illinois.
 
Up Next
Belmont embarks on its first MVC road trip next weekend, traveling to Iowa where the Bruins will take on Drake next Friday before facing Northern Iowa next Sunday. 

Original source can be found here