MOLINE, Ill. – Quiet for much of the game, Belmont’s Tuti Jones turned it on at just the right time for her team.

   Jones scored seven points and came up with a key steal to blunt a UIC comeback and lift the second-seeded Bruins to a 70-65 victory on Friday night in the quarterfinals of the MVC women’s basketball tournament.

   In its second year as a Valley member, Belmont is now one victory from a return to the championship game. The Bruins (25-7), who lost to Drake in last year’s title game, will play in a semifinal game at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

   Jones finished with 16 points after scoring only 2 in the first half and came up with seven steals, one short of the tournament record. Tessa Miller led the Bruins with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting and Kendal Cheesman hit three 3-pointers in scoring 11.

   Danyel Middleton led seventh-seeded UIC, also in its second season in the league, with 19 points, Krystyna Ellew matched her season high with 13 and Makiyah Williams added 10.

   UIC (18-15) trailed 55-45 after a miserable third quarter in which the Flames made just 4-of-16 shots and turned it over eight times. But they righted themselves quickly and fought their way back into it.

  Middleton hit a jump shot, then converted a three-point play off a layup to start a 14-2 run that Ellew capped with a 3-pointer, pulling the Flames into a 61-59 lead with 4:57 left.

  Jones was 3-for-12 from the field at that point, but she suddenly found the range. First she drove of a layup to tie it. Then she hit a jumper in the lane for a 63-61 lead with 3:06 remaining. A little more than a minute later, she stole the ball and that led to a Miller free throw that made it 64-61.

   Miller missed her second shot, but teammate Camryn Harrison secured the rebound and with shot clock about to expire, Jones buried a 3 from the left wing to hike the lead to 67-61 with 1:19 to go.

  That proved to be enough of a cushion for the Bruins to survive some shaky free throw shooting in the final minute. They missed six of eight before Kilyn McDuff sank one with 5 seconds left to finish it off.

   UIC did not make another basket after Ellew’s go-ahead 3 and had four costly turnovers during the final stretch. The Flames shot 51 percent for the game, but that wasn’t quite good enough to offset their 19 turnovers. In a game decided by five points, Belmont had a 17-12 edge in points off turnovers.