In a rematch of the 2021 MVC Women’s Basketball Championship, the Bradley Braves (3-14) fell to the Drake Bulldogs (11-8) 80-56 on Thursday night at Renaissance Coliseum.
“We got to shoot the ball better,” head coach Andrea Gorski said. “We just go on stretches and we go on these droughts, and we do it every game and that’s usually our downfall.”
With a vastly different roster than the one who earned the program’s first conference title nearly a year ago, the Braves showed that same gritty fight in them, but were outmatched by Drake Bulldog forward Maggie Bair, who ended with 19 points, giving the ’Dogs the victory.
“We really wanted this one,” senior guard Tatum Koenig said. “I thought we just didn’t quite execute.”
A crowd of 246 settled in to watch the Braves battle, and from the opening tip, the Braves traded runs with the Bulldogs, but found themselves down 24-14 after a 15-2 run from Drake to end the first quarter.
Drake’s defense forced the Braves to shoot late in the shot clock on multiple possessions and turning misses on one end into points on the other. By the end of the first half, the Bulldogs had stormed out to a 48-27 lead to put the pressure on the Braves in the second half.
In the final two quarters, the fight in the Braves showed, with Bradley giving the Bulldogs a taste of their own medicine by turning tight defense into points on the board.
“I thought the third quarter was probably our best quarter all season,” Gorksi said. “I thought that second half group played their tails off, that’s our ‘high energy people’ and they played with high energy.”
Despite the Braves causing some disruption early on after the break, even getting within 11 in the fourth period, the Bulldogs found some nylon to keep the lead in their hands the rest of the way; taking the first meeting between these two teams this season.
After the game, Gorski embraced her team’s ability to battle, but voiced how the team can improve.
“I liked that energy, it’s something to build off of for sure, we just need to play and read at the same time and make the right reads,” Gorski said. “[That stuff] will come with experience and will make our lives much easier.”
Leading the Braves in the loss was Koenig, who finished with 19 points and shot 6-17 from the field, including 3-7 from deep. Sophomore forward Isis Fitch had a career night with 16 points and five rebounds.
The Braves as a unit shot 33% but were out-battled in the paint, scoring 18 below the hoop compared to the Bulldogs 40, and were outrebounded by 10.
Koenig and the Braves will continue to try and snap the streak and build on the year when they take on Northern Iowa this Saturday with a 2 p.m. tipoff in Peoria.
“We’re just going to stick to what we know and what we’re doing and I think we’re going to get one here soon,” Koenig said.
