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Braves split homestand against Missouri State and Southern Illinois

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Freshman Lila Posthuma (left) and seniors Soleil Barnes (center) and Kaylen Nelson (right) huddle up in the midst of a game. Photo via Bradley Athletics.

Bradley women’s basketball (9-12, 3-7 MVC) returned home over the weekend to take on the Missouri State (16-5, 8-2 MVC) Bears and Southern Illinois Salukis (3-16, 1-9 MVC) with the Braves entering the weekend on a five-game losing streak.

The unfortunate losing streak continued on Friday as Missouri State, riding a seven-game winning streak, traveled to Peoria and won 73-62. Early struggles cost the Braves, as despite matching the Bears offensive production in the second half, the 11-point halftime deficit proved too much to overcome.

“What hurt us early was our turnovers,” head coach Kate Popovec-Goss said. “They were able to go on big runs because of our turnovers, and we dug ourselves into a hole.”

Bradley struggled offensively to start the game, going six minutes between made field goals in the first quarter. After the first quarter, the Braves trailed by six and continued to falter offensively as Missouri State began the quarter on an 8-2 run. 

After that run, though, Bradley’s offense started to turn around. They limited their turnovers and matched what the Bears were throwing at them, though they couldn’t string together a scoring run to take the lead.

“I thought tonight, our offense was much improved,” Popovec-Goss said on Friday. “We just couldn’t string together enough runs of stops to be able to carve into the lead that they had early because of turnovers.”

The Braves were able to cut the lead to seven after halftime but could not get any closer.  Despite the loss, they showed they could compete with top conference teams.

“I love our team’s fight,” Popovec-Goss said. “We’re competing hard, and our kids are invested. We are improving on offense. We’ve got to continue to demand that we’re a great defensive team.”

“They’re a really good team,” Popovec-Goss added. “Outside of the early turnovers, I really liked our execution. I didn’t think our defense was great tonight. We just need to put it all together at the same time.”

Bradley had three double-digit point scorers against the Bears. Senior guard Soleil Barnes finished with 20 points, freshman forward Ellie McDermid matched a season-high with 13 points and sophomore guard-forward Claire McDougall scored 10 points in her second game back from injury.

“We’re optimistic,” senior forward Tamia Perryman said after the loss. “We haven’t been hanging our heads down. We just need to put everything together and play our game.”

The streak ends 

After their sixth straight loss, the Braves were determined to put everything together on Sunday against Southern Illinois, who were on a four-game losing streak of their own entering the contest.

Thanks to an excellent performance on both sides of the ball, Bradley finally got back in the win column for the first time since Jan. 5, defeating the Salukis 68-46.

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Perryman attempting a layup. Photo via Bradley Athletics.

“It feels good, just because we were losing so many,” Perryman said following the victory. “It just finally feels like we could take a deep breath, but we’re not satisfied with just the one win.”

Perryman was crucial for the Braves early, scoring 13 points in the first quarter and 10 of the team’s first 12 points to help keep pace with Southern Illinois. Once the rest of the offense got going, the team was able to go on a 16-0 run and control the game by halfway through the second quarter.

“I just take what the defense gives me,” Perryman said. “Normally, I wait for the game to come to me, but lately, I’ve been trying to be more aggressive and be the one to throw the first punch.”

Perryman has recently stepped up in a big way for Bradley. She has scored double-digit points in three of her last four games, which included 18 overall on Sunday.

“To see Tamia play with such confidence is something I’ve been challenging her with because she has the ability to put up big numbers consistently,” Popovec-Goss said. “I think her confidence is growing, and I just thought that she had a great game and played with a lot of freedom.”

After losing the turnover battle on Friday, the Braves bounced back on Sunday and forced 17 turnovers. Bradley capitalized, scoring 18 points off turnovers as opposed to Salukis’ 11. 

The Braves also won the rebound battle 44-32, a statistic that the team knew would be challenging to win as Southern Illinois’ Gift Uchenna currently ranks second in the country, averaging 13.2 rebounds per game.

“I thought we rebounded the heck out of the ball, which was such an important stat,” Popovec-Goss said. “They have one of the best rebounders in the country, but we kept her off the offensive glass. She only had two offensive rebounds when she averages close to five, and for us to out-rebound them by 12 and convert that into second-chance points was really awesome for us.”

The Braves were led in rebounds by McDermid, who had 10, her third game with double-digit rebounds this season. Perryman, Barnes and McDougall each had six. Barnes led the team with 22 points, followed by Perryman’s 18-point day.

Bradley will begin a four-game road trip on Feb. 7 to Northern Iowa to face the Panthers. Entering the second half of conference play, the Braves can improve their performances against teams they have already faced.

“We just have to keep stacking,” Perryman said. “Keep practicing with the high intensity that we’ve practiced with all week, and continue to come and play complete games like we did today.”

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