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Bradley falls to Northern Iowa despite Dorsey’s career night

Sophomore guard Nika Dorsey walks the ball up. Photo by Jenna Zeise.

While sophomore guard Nika Dorsey might have come off the bench for the Braves’ 76-50 loss to Northern Iowa, Dorsey had some of her best minutes as a Brave, putting up 15 points, two assists and two rebounds during her 23 minutes on the court.

Bradley (3-24, MVC 0-16) headed into the second half trailing by six, but a 24-point performance in the third frame from UNI (18-7 MVC 13-3) made it very difficult for the Braves to steal a win in Cedar Falls, Iowa. 

The Bradley bench was instrumental as they provided half of the Braves’ points against Northern Iowa. However, the Panthers took advantage of the Braves’ turnovers and converted 13 of them into 18 points. Panthers’ forward Grace Boffeli scored 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists as Northern Iowa shot 46 percent from the field.

The Panthers got off to a good start as they went on a 10-3 run with seven minutes to go in the first frame. However, Dorsey and sophomore guard Alex Rouse led the way into a 10-2 run that gave the 13-12 lead to the Braves heading into the second quarter. Rouse put up 11 points, four rebounds and three assists in the game.

A layup by senior forward Veronika Roberts gave the Braves their biggest lead of the game, a 15-12 advantage with 9:20 left in the second quarter. The lead was short lived as a UNI 3-pointer by Emerson Green leveled things with eight minutes to go. 

It was a back and forth affair at the McLeod Center, as both the Panthers and Braves struggled to gain a big run over the other and they headed into the half with UNI leading 33-27.

Out of the locker room, the Panthers worked themselves a 12-point lead over the Braves as two 3-point daggers by Maya McDermott got them started in the third quarter. With five minutes to go, Northern Iowa continued their stride and rode a 10-0 run, shooting 66 percent from the field over the Braves to head into the final frame up 19.

In the final frame, Bradley had a mountain to climb, down 57-38 and all Northern Iowa had to do for the last 10 minutes to hold steady for a sweep of the Braves for the second season in a row. 

While Bradley struck first with a layup by junior forward Isis Fitch, Northern Iowa countered with a seven point run. A Callie Ziebell jumper with 6:18 left was the last successful shot from the field for the Braves as the rest of their points only came on free throws.

Bradley returns to Peoria to face Valparaiso, who comes in having won two straight this Thursday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

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