Men’s Basketball
The men’s basketball team played 11 games during Winter Break, and compiled a 4-7 record.
Bradley began the last four games of its non-conference schedule with a win on the road against Northern Illinois 63-49. Junior guard Andrew Warren led the team with 16 points and sophomore forward Taylor Brown chipped in 15 points and four rebounds.
The next three non-conference games resulted in three losses, including two home losses back-to-back to Western Carolina 75-67 and to Loyola on a half-court buzzer beater 68-65.
The team played its last non-conference game against Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, losing 87-68.
Bradley bounced back from its non-conference struggles and began the conference season with a win at Drake 67-59. Warren led the team in scoring with a game-high 24 points while pulling down a career-high eight rebounds. Junior guard Sam Maniscalco, Warren, and Brown combined for 55 of the Bradley’s 67 points.
The Braves returned home for three games in six days beginning with Southern Illinois at Carver Arena. Bradley lost 86-81, blowing a seven-point lead with 1:44 remaining in the game. Brown led the team in scoring with 25 points.
Two days later, the team dropped a road game at Wichita State 81-69 before returning home to defeat Indiana State in overtime 91-85.
The team lost two more road games to Missouri State 88-69 and conference leader Northern Iowa 52-50 to bring their conference record to 2-4.
Bradley finished break avenging a loss to Missouri State with a win at Carver Arena.
The Braves opened up a 15-point halftime lead and never looked back, defeating the visiting Bears 74-56. All five starters scored double figures, with Brown leading the way with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Women’s Basketball
The women’s basketball team played 10 games during Winter Break, finishing with a record of 5-5.
The Braves began with two home losses to Arkansas-Little Rock 58-51 and Missouri 52-46. Sophomore center Leah Kassing scored a team-high 16 points in just 18 minutes against Arkansas-Little Rock. Senior forward Jenny Van Kirk scored 15 points to lead the team against Missouri.
The state of Colorado was the next stop for the women’s team, playing both Northern Colorado and the Air Force Academy. The team dropped its first game at Northern Colorado 75-58 before beating Air Force by 17 points 62-45. Sophomore forward Mackenzie Westcott led the Braves with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Before embarking on its first conference road trip of the season, the Braves traveled to St. Louis University, beating the Billikens 72-66. The team then headed to Missouri State losing 72-67 and Wichita State losing 69-55.
After beginning the conference season 0-2, the team won three straight conference home games all by double digits to wrap up break.
The team defeated Evansville 77-65. Senior guard Renee Frericks scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Braves. Two days later, Bradley took down Southern Illinois, 72-61, behind 20 points from junior guard Raisa Taylor.
In the last game before the end of break, the team recorded a 12-point win over Northern Iowa, 74-62. Freshman guard Katie Yohn hit six 3-pointers and led the Braves with 18 points.
Hall of Fame Inductees
On Jan. 15, four new members were inducted into Bradley’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Dave Snell, the voice of Bradley basketball for the last 30 years, as well as Jim Rasmussen (soccer, 1993-96), Nelson Correa (baseball, 1996-99) and Heather Best (basketball, 1995-99) were all inducted as part of 2010 Hall of Fame class.
A luncheon was held for the inductees in the Michel Student Center ballroom. The next day, the group was officially inducted during a ceremony at halftime of the Bradley-Missouri State men’s basketball game.
Snell, a 1976 graduate of Bradley, has been the radio voice of Bradley basketball for WMBD radio since 1979. He had participated in 940 broadcasts during that time period. Snell was also the long time sports director at WMBD-TV in Peoria.
Rasmussen had 18 goals and seven assists in 69 career games at Bradley. Rasmussen became only the second player in Bradley soccer history to be named to the first team Missouri Valley Conference.
In 215 career games, Correa hit .353 and batted in 170 runs. Correa holds the career Bradley record for homers with 42, total bases with 450, and RBIs.
Best was the first player in Missouri Valley Conference history with 100 career 3-pointers and 100 career blocks. She is seventh on the all-time career scoring list with 1,447 points. Best also was named to the Missouri Valley Conference
