For the second year in a row, the basketball season wasn’t a kind one for the Bradley women’s basketball team.
From recording nine wins in the 2013-2014 season, the Braves declined, notching only six wins in the 2014-2015 season.
This can be attribiuted in large part to the youth of the six freshmen on the team, and the external factors which affected the team in the latter portion of the year.
The team started off the season 0-6 and were on the bad ends of blow outs by DePaul and Oklahoma University. Once the team got into Missouri Valley Conference play, inexperience and personal issues took their toll.
“I don’t really remember last year really well,” head coach Michael Brooks said. “For some reason, I have this thing in me that the past just goes away. It was tough on a lot of fronts. I dealt with a lot of personal things with my mother passing away, and it was a very trying year for all of us.”
With the previous season now behind him, Brooks has a team which is primarily focused on the season at hand.
The six freshmen are now sophomores, and Brooks noted how the college game is becoming familiar to them.
“They’ve been through Oklahoma, they’ve been through DePaul [and] they’ve been through the Valley,” Brooks said. “We return six freshmen who understand what I want and how I want it done.”
Along with the six returning sophomores are five new freshmen, who put an emphasis on scoring the rock.
Freshmen guard Gabby Green and forward Vanessa Markert both recorded over 2,000 points in their high school careers, as the Braves have to replace graduated guard Michelle Young, who was a consistent defender and scoring option the previous year.
Also new to the team is fifth year senior transfer Kat Yelle. Yelle, who comes from Ohio University, will provide experienced play at the point guard position, which is something the Braves sorely needed.
“I love to play fast,” Yelle said. “I love to run. I’m an energizer, and I just love being on the court. At the same time, I love being the calming force.”
Yelle also said the offense Brooks has her running is one which requires the team to come together.
“It’s a complicated offense, but I love it,” Yelle said. “It stretches our minds as players and we really have to know each other and know what each of our strengths are. The moment that all comes together it’s a beautiful thing because we’ll get any shot we want.”
With a crucible of a season behind them, the women’s team is preparing for a stacked non-conference schedule to open the year, which includes a rematch with Oklahoma at Renaissance Coliseum.
However, Brooks is going through the process of the preseason, which includes finding a starting lineup.
“We’ve just had the opportunity to become better sisters,” Brooks said. “We are just trying to be as diligent, as disciplined and as consistent as we can be … There is no starter yet, and we’re not even close to that point.”
