Bradley women’s basketball was on the hardwood Saturday to play against Illinois-Chicago, but they were also there to raise awareness for pediatric cancer in the inaugural Be Bold, Go Gold game for pediatric cancer awareness.
Pediatric cancer is something that Braves’ head coach Kate Popovec-Goss’s family knows far too well as her niece, Melina Michelle Edenfield, was diagnosed with a Diffuse Midline Glioma Brain tumor at the age of four.
“It was very aggressive, it was the deadliest form of cancer that exists and it’s more prevalent in children,” Popovec-Goss said.
The Popovec-Goss household soon found out that treatment options were limited and that only four percent of national funding actually goes to pediatrics.
“That’s not good enough and our children certainly deserve better than that,” Popovec-Goss said. “We want to raise awareness that even though the survival rates for children have increased, there are so many complications that come with the treatment options.”
The ‘Be Bold, Go Gold’ game was not just about raising awareness, it was also a celebration.
“We had some special families in the crowd with children that had rung the bell, which means they beat their battle with cancer,” Popovec-Goss said. “I think one of the things with cancer is once you have it, it’s something that people always talk about, and sometimes you just want to be a kid and you want to celebrate.”
“That was a big goal of today to honor those people that had fought and won their battle and those that have touched the pediatric cancer experience whether their nurses or doctors, people that work in the hospitals.” Popovec-Goss added.
Bradley fell to Illinois-Chicago 64-38 in their final game at Renaissance Coliseum this season. The Braves struggled to gain any good momentum against UIC, propelled by a 17-point performance from guard Ky Dempsey-Toney.
Neck-in-neck with Dempsey-Toney, Bradley sophomore Caroline Waite put up 17 points and four rebounds, shooting 7-15 from the field and 3-6 beyond the arc. Senior forward Veronika Roberts added seven points and three rebounds coming off her career-high 14 points against Valparaiso.
“It was a tough game, we struggled to score and struggled on defense but we got three more games so we’ll pick it up,” Roberts said.
Trouble on McCloud 9
After putting up 23 points and seven rebounds against Illinois State last Thursday, Peoria native guard Jaida McCloud returned to her hometown, 26 points shy of the coveted 1,000 point milestone that many dream to hit, but few reach.
However, the Braves protected the paint well, leaving McCloud with less freedom and only nine points to her name, after putting up 20 points and eight rebounds last time against Bradley. This was also the first time in nine games that McCloud wasn’t able to reach double figures.
“She was efficient, but we limited her touches,” Popovec-Goss said. “I thought we did a really good job defending her and for most of our game plan defensively we had some really good moments.”
Both Bradley and UIC started the game unable to hit the target, as the Braves kept the Flames from scoring a non-free-throw point for the first three minutes. McCloud eventually got UIC started as her layup initiated the domino effect which resulted in a 13-2 run that left the Flames with a 15-5 advantage after the first frame.
As the popular saying goes, play with fire and you get burned, the Braves might have had an answer for McCloud, but struggled to keep guard Sara Zabreky and forward Josie Filer quiet for most of the game. Zabreky put up 12 points while Filer converted 14 and grabbed 10 boards for her fifth double-double of the season.
One more at home
A misconception of basketball is that the stat sheet is all that matters, but the truth is that sometimes the most important players play off the hardwood. Against UIC, Bradley celebrated their lone senior Roberts on senior day.
“My time at Bradley has been super fun, I learned a lot of lessons from basketball that I can take into my next chapter,” Roberts said. “I know my role in every team and this year I really stepped into the leader role especially off the court and on the court, just being that vocal leader that everybody needs.”
In the final frame, despite being down by a score of 55-27, the Braves kept chipping away at the lead as jumpers from Waite and sophomore guard Isis Fitch decreased the deficit.
With 6:17 to go, Waite sent a half court pass to Roberts who took hold and converted in the paint for her first point of the game. As the sphere passed through the rim, energy and applause filled RenCo as the Bradley faithful applauded their lone senior on her special day.
Roberts went on to score a couple more layups and a successful free-throw to mark her last home game as a Brave.
Bradley will now play their last two conference games away from the Hilltop against Indiana State and Evansville still looking for their first conference win of the season.
“One of our biggest things in our mission at Bradley with our team is for them to understand that there is so much more outside the world of Bradley women’s basketball,” Popovec-Goss said.
