The Bradley women’s basketball team surpassed last season’s win total of 13 after defeating Illinois State 79-68 last Saturday. The Braves sit comfortably at fourth place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 4-3 record and are 7-1 on the road.
Last Saturday at Redbird Arena, the Braves’ 79 points were their highest scoring output in a conference game since last February. At halftime, Bradley went into the locker room leading 35-27.
The Redbirds, however, came out of the locker room ready to put up a fight and pulled within one point, 41-40, with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter, forcing a BU timeout.
ISU’s forward Simone Goods, the conference’s fourth leading scorer, tallied nine of her 19 points during the third quarter run. Following the timeout, Bradley freshman Lasha Petree netted the next seven points to dissolve any comeback.
The Braves committed a season low of eight turnovers, with three in the first half. It was a welcoming sight for head coach Andrea Gorski, who said her team’s response to the Redbird’s run was the key to the game.
“I liked our team’s composure, coming back and being able to score and continue to be aggressive and not get on our heels,” Gorski said.
Petree finished with 21 points in only 17 minutes, her fifth 20-plus point game of the season. Gorski said that Petree, who fell out of the starting rotation following a home loss to Missouri State, stepped up as a perimeter scorer.
“She had a lot of confidence today,” Gorski said. “[ISU] did a really good job on [defending] Gabi [Haack], so we needed someone else to step up from the perimeter.”
Although the Braves gave up 28 points in the paint to the Redbirds, Gorski was impressed with her team’s toughness. She pointed out sophomore Emily Marsh, who in her second career start, notched a career high nine rebounds.
“One of the holes in our team this year has been the physicality,” Gorski said. “We inserted Emily Marsh and she doesn’t score a lot, but she gives us that physicality.”
Bradley out rebounded its rivals 36-26, including an offensive glass advantage of 13-5. Junior forward Chelsea Brackman, the team’s leading rebounder and third-highest scorer, failed to extend her double-double streak to four games. She finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.
The Braves will play at Valparaiso tonight at 7 p.m. and Loyola-Chicago Sunday at 1 p.m.
