Bradley women’s basketball continued their season-long struggles on the road after losing to Missouri Valley Conference leader Drake University, 77-71, and the University of Northern Iowa, 63-50. As a result, the Braves now fall to a 12-16 overall record and to seventh place in the MVC.
The Braves took on the undefeated Bulldogs on Friday in a thrilling game at the Knapp Center. Drake scored the first six points of the game to go up 6-0 after tipoff. The Braves went on a small run with points coming from both sophomore forward Chelsea Brackmann and freshman guard Gabi Haack.
Brackmann put up three straight baskets of her own to make the game level, 6-6, while Haack followed her teammate’s conversions with a 3-pointer to go up 9-6. The Bulldogs remained undeterred and held a slight 20-18 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
At the start of the second quarter, the Bulldogs extended their lead to nine points, 27-18. The Braves responded with a 10-0 run to keep the score close, 31-29. The half ended with a last-second layup from Braves junior guard Shunseere Kent to take the lead 39-37.
The Braves continued their strong performance into the third quarter with huge points coming from Haack yet again. Haack was able to land another 3-pointer and Bradley eventually ended the third quarter up four points, 59-55.
The fourth quarter proved to be the most exciting with seven lead changes. This time the Bulldogs started the quarter out hot, scoring the first seven points. The Braves came back, and held onto a 68-67 lead with under three minutes left to play.
Bradley’s small advantage dissipated in the final two minutes of the quarter after Drake went on a 10-3 run to lead 75-70. With only 1:26 remaining, junior forward Vanessa Markert provided a glimpse of hope for the Braves after making two shots, but it wasn’t enough.
The Bulldogs were able to pull out one of their hardest earned victories of the season, 77-71, to improve their undefeated conference record to 37 straight wins.
Head coach Andrea Gorski said she believes her team played the best they have all season against Drake and hopes that same strong mentality continues into future games.
“The last couple games our mental toughness has been the best it’s been all season,” Gorski said. “If we take that same mental approach, focus and determination [we had this past weekend] into the tournament, you’ll see a different team.”
Both Haack and Markert had impressive offensive performances, with Haack notably going 6-for-12 beyond the arc, dropping in 22 points and five rebounds, and Markert putting up 17 points and seven rebounds.
Haack has had an amazing start to her career as a Brave. She currently holds the No. 1 position in points scored for Bradley, averaging at 10.3 points per game. Haack gave credit to her teammates for that success.
“We’ve been working really well together; the team was really welcoming at first,” Haack said. “So it made it easier for me to feel comfortable in our games and to play along with them.”
On Sunday, the Braves travelled to play in their final road game of the regular season against Northern Iowa at the McLeod Center.
The start of the game was filled with a plethora of points as UNI led 19-14 by the end of the first quarter. The second quarter looked like the complete opposite, though, as both teams combined for 15 points total with Northern Iowa leading 25-20 at the half.
The Panthers continued to extend their lead, 37-25, into the third quarter by taking advantage of Bradley’s poor shooting performance early on. The Braves made a 15-5 run to bring the score within two points, 42-40, however, by the end of the third quarter.
The final quarter saw action quickly, as Markert scored to tie the game at 42-42. The Braves would continue to trail the Panthers for the remainder of the game after failing to score another basket after the first six minutes of play, Markert scored a pair of free throws in the final four minutes but it wasn’t enough, as the Braves lost 63-50 against Northern Iowa.
Markert grabbed another double-double, racking up 16 points and 8 rebounds.
The Braves will conclude their regular season in an I-74 rival game against Illinois State University this Saturday. The winner of the game will clinch the No. 6 seed for the upcoming MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Gorski believes that if the Braves bring the same mentality they did against Drake and Northern Iowa, they’ll be able to win.
“ISU is different team than the last two teams,” Gorski said. “[We] got to win the rebounding battle and got to get every loose ball. ISU is a very physical team, and it’ll be a large task. But if we bring the same mentality that we did last week, we can accomplish that.”
The Braves will host ISU at the Renaissance Coliseum at 2 p.m.
