Bradley’s women’s basketball celebrated Senior Day last weekend against Illinois State but despite a strong effort against the fourth-place Redbirds, the Braves lost the contest 62-53.
What:
Seniors Gabi Haack, Aannah Interrante, Chloe Rice and Tatum Koenig were all honored before the game Saturday evening for their commitments and hard work during their time at Bradley.
Bradley hosted ISU in the second meeting of the I-74 Rivalry. Bradley led after one quarter of play, but the Redbirds were able to outscore Bradley by four in the next two quarters to build a lead and sweep the season series
Who:
In her last home game, Rice helped lead the Braves in scoring with 11 points. The senior played 31 minutes in the game and went 5-5 from the free throw line to help the Braves, who went 13-16 from the charity stripe.
Koenig chipped in seven points and five rebounds on the afternoon. She played all 40 minutes of the game, much of the reason she ranks first among all guards in the Missouri Valley Conference in minutes played.
Junior Sierra Morrow had a great game as well for the Braves, nearly recording a double-double with 11 points and 8 rebounds.
In the closely contested rivalry game, Bradley was never able to keep the lead after the first quarter. The Braves played good defense and forced 12 turnovers, but turned the ball over 13 times themselves.
When:
After a 3-pointer from freshman guard Caroline Waite to put Bradley ahead 8-5 in the first quarter, the Braves held the lead until they went scoreless for a nearly eight-minute stretch spanning the first two quarters. Meanwhile, the Redbirds went on a 11-0 run, thanks to six points from Deanna Wilson.
The Braves drew to within one after another deep ball from Waite made it 37-36 Illinois State with 4:29 left in the third. After staying within arm’s reach of ISU, two free throws from Morrow knotted the score at 52 with 4:26 into the fourth quarter but the Braves missed their last eight shots from the field as the Redbirds escaped with a victory.
This was the 93rd meeting between the two programs and Illinois State controls the series with a commanding 58 wins.
Where:
This was the final game of the 2021-22 campaign at Renaissance Coliseum for the Braves. All four of Bradley’s wins have came at home this season.
Why:
Head coach Andrea Gorski on how her team handled the emotions of senior day: “It’s not an easy thing to do and we handled it better than I thought we would. We handled it much better than in years past. I thought they played well, especially our starting group and it can be hard because you are trying so hard to win on senior day.”
Gorski on what the I-74 Rivalry means to her and the team: “It is unique because the two schools are so different. One is a large state university and the other is a small private university and high academic school. I have so much pride being a Bradley Brave, and I truly believe that other school’s cannot hold a candle to what we do here at Bradley.
Gorksi on the balanced scoring by Bradley: “Illinois State did a great job of taking away opportunities from Tatum and Caroline which allowed others to step up. We are going to need that third and fourth scorer heading into the tournament, which we have struggled to find at times this season.”
