Photo via Scout Archives
The Bradley women’s basketball team returned to the Renaissance Coliseum to battle two opposing defensive schemes; an on-ball and a zone defense. However, the home court continues to bring about shooting woes for the Braves.
On Friday night, the University of Northern Iowa Panthers and their tough on-ball defense came to town. Offensively, the Braves, a team that relies on the three, struggled throughout. Bradley’s defense played tough and UNI was never able to pull away. The team combined shot 1-21 from behind the arc.
“We have got several great three point shooters,” head coach Andrea Gorski said. “Northern Iowa locked up on the perimeter and made us score going to the basket, and we were not able to do that.”
UNI eventually won the battle of the forwards thanks to Megan Maahs’ double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds by a score of 51-40. For Bradley, junior Vanessa Markert lead the team with 12 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and four assists emdash two of which contributed to their comeback in the fourth quarter.
Following a painful loss the Braves came to play Sunday afternoon when they hosted Drake, the current winners of 31 straight Missouri Valley Conference games. Drake led the half at 39-25, due to Bradley missing open shots.
“We left too many points on the table with all of those missed layups in the first half,” Gorski said. “We have got to finish inside. If we had scored points from the get-go, it would have been a different ballgame.”
Coming out of halftime, the Braves were able to get to the basket and make their three pointers. The second half saw the Braves shoot 8-14 from three and 51.4 percent overall in the final twenty minutes.
The Braves were able to figure out the zone defense Drake was employing.
“The second half I thought we finished well,” Gorski said. “Nyjah White and [Emily] Marsh did a great job against the zone for freshmen and they figured out the zone pretty quick.”
Although the offense was back in the second half, Gorski stressed the importance of more consistency in order to win games the rest of the season.
“We are a super balanced team based on stats; the problem is we have to be consistent from week to week,” Gorski said. “We don’t have that consistency from game to game and cannot count on certain players. Balance is great, but we have to count on certain people to do certain things. Consistency is the difference from being in fifth place and second for us.”
On Sunday with 3:29 remaining in the second quarter, senior guard Anneke Schlueter became the Renaissance Coliseum’s leading scorer, passing Leti Lerma’s record of 480 points. Schlueter finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and two steals for the game.
Following the game Schlueter said she was unaware of the record but that it was “really cool.” Gorski said she and her staff are proud of her.
“Anneke took the ball to the basket today, and we are always on her about not being a one dimensional player,” Gorski said. “She’s a great shooter.”
Schlueter said she was focused on the task at hand: winning. Although she wanted to win, she was happy with how her and fellow senior Danielle Brewer contributed.
“We have to all step up every game,” Schlueter said. “Dani and I have to bring our intensity every game so we can make an impact on the younger players. When we play loose we are better and we have to have fun playing in order to win.”
Consistency is key for the women’s team, which they will need this weekend.
The Braves will host Valparaiso at 7 p.m in the Renaissance Coliseum and then Loyola-Chicago for a 1 p.m Sunday. matinee.
