Belmont Women’s Basketball Team Wins Second Straight OVC Tournament Title

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Pictured: The Belmont Women celebrating its win over Tennessee Tech in OVC Finals. Photo: Courtesy of Belmont Athletics.

For the sixth time in seven years, the Belmont women’s basketball team has won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, punching its ticket to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

The Bruins wiped the floor with Tennessee Tech, winning 51-29 on Saturday, March 5 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

“I can’t be more proud of these young ladies than I am right now,” said head coach Bart Brooks in a postgame press conference. “With the ups and downs of the season, this was a grinding, tough and difficult season. We really challenged these players in our non-conference and got knocked down more than knocked other people down, but we kept getting up, fighting and competing. I think this group just has an unbelievable resiliency and toughness and when they got to the end of the season, they started playing their best basketball.”

Brooks has now led the Bruins to four OVC Tournament wins in his five seasons as coach and was named the 2022 OVC Coach of the Year.

Belmont’s defense paved the way for another OVC title, limiting Tech to shooting 9-of-52 from the field and forcing 17 turnovers. Belmont nearly held Tennessee Tech scoreless the entire final 10 minutes, scoring the first 13 points of the fourth quarter before a Golden Eagles 3-pointer with 12 seconds left.

“Defense wins championships and we all know that. Honestly, I can’t take the charges unless they make those girls drive into the paint. They do all the work on the outside and I’m just waiting for it,” said senior captain Conley Chinn in a postgame press conference. “It’s just incredible to be on the floor playing defense with these girls, especially when we have that fire energy, make them turn it over and steal it from them causing bad shots. Like anything it’s just a great feeling to be out there.”

Sophomore Destinee Wells dropped 22 points and was named the OVC Tournament MVP for a second consecutive year.

The team didn’t miss a beat throughout the game and shot 56% from the field in the second half, with nine players scoring. Wells also scored 20 points and shot for 50% from the field in the Bruins win over Austin Peay in the tournament semifinals.

Wells, along with fellow sophomore Madison Bartley, were named to the OVC All-Tournament team. Bartley averaged 13 points on 57.1% shooting and seven rebounds in the tournament.

“We worked so hard for this all season. To see it pay off with this great group of girls and amazing teammates is amazing,” said Wells in a postgame press conference.

Next up for the Bruins is the NCAA Tournament. On ESPN’s latest bracketology, Belmont is predicted to be a No. 13 seed. The Bruins won its first ever NCAA Tournament game in 2021, taking out No. 5 seed Gonzaga 64-59.

Selection Sunday for the Women’s March Madness is March 13 at 7 p.m. CT and can be watched on ESPN.

Steven Boero
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