The Braves went into a tough environment in Bloomington, Indiana, looking to pull off an upset.
After the first quarter, Bradley led the Hoosiers 18-15.
It seemed possible.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, they had lost by 28 points.
The game went sideways after the second quarter, when Indiana outscored the Braves 27-8. Bradley fought back a bit in the third, but they couldn’t gain ground before the Hoosiers put the game to bed in the fourth.
Bradley’s performance was incredibly inefficient and uncoordinated. Senior Charia Smith led the scoring but shot a measly 9-21 from the field, and no one else picked up the slack.
Over 70% of the team’s scoring came from Smith and sophomore Ellie McDermid. Meanwhile, Indiana had nearly every one of their players above 50% shooting with six separate players reaching double-digit points.
The only real silver lining is that this was considered a big mismatch. Even when the Braves were up, ESPN gave them only a 3% chance of winning. A loss seemed pretty much inevitable; there’s no real reason to panic, especially this early in the season.
Looking ahead, Bradley travels to Louisville on Friday to face a 1-3 Bellamarine team. A strong performance should get the team back in solid form.
