PEORIA, Ill. -- Junior guard Shunseere Kent scored a team-high 13 points to pace three Bradley players in double figures at Illinois, but the Illini used a late 13-0 run to pull out a 74-62 victory over the Braves Saturday afternoon at the State Farm Center in first road game of the season for BU.
Kent scored a team-high 13 points to pace three Bradley (2-1 overall) players in double figures, with freshmen Gabi Haack (11 points) and Nyjay White (10 points) joining her in double figures. The trio of newcomers combined for 34 of Bradley's 62 points on the day, with the duo of Haack and White both coming off the bench to help the BU reserves score 33 points.
Bradley entered Saturday's outing looking for its third consecutive victory in the series with Illinois and the Braves were within striking distance after a strong third quarter. With her team trailing 40-34 at the half, Kent got things going for Bradley in the third with the first three points of the period. Senior Madison Dellamuth followed an Illinois (3-1 overall) turnover with a three-pointer to tie the game at 40-40 less than two minutes into the second half.
A Kent three-pointer at 7:46 in the third gave Bradley its first lead since late in the first period as the Braves went in front 43-42. Bradley's lead stood at 53-50 with 1:30 left in the third quarter following one of Haack's three three-pointers in the contest, but the lead was short lived. Addaya Moore had a hoop with 52 seconds left in the frame to cut the BU lead to one (53-52) and a buzzer-beating shot in the lane by Courtney Jones gave the Illini a 54-53 advantage heading to the fourth.
The teams traded three-pointers in the early moments of the fourth with Ali Andrews knocking one down to open the period for Illinois and Haack hitting her third of the day to keep the deficit at one point (57-56) just over two minutes into the period. White later had consecutive hoops for the Braves and her jumper with 6:14 kept the Braves within one (61-60) with just over six minutes to play before Illinois took control.
Bradley went scoreless for a five-minute stretch and Illinois took advantage by scoring the next 13 points. Petra Holesinska started the run with a jumper and added four more points during the spurt, while Brandi Beasley scored five to help highlight the Illini run which extended the Illinois lead to 74-60 with just over one minute remaining.
Senior Anneke Schlueter ended Bradley's drought with a jumper with 1:02 on the clock, but it was the final points of the contest as Illinois handed the Braves their first loss of the season with a 74-62 victory.
Bradley shot just 34.9 percent from the field in the setback, but the Braves were 8-for-19 (42.1 percent) from beyond the arc after making just 6-of-28 (21.4) three-point attempts in the first two games of the season. Sophomore Chelsea Brackmann tied for game-high honors with 10 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench, adding six points, two assists, two blocks and a steal.
Bradley continues a season-long four-game road swing with a trip to Cape Girardeau, Mo., for the Southeast Missouri State Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 24 & 25. The Braves play Nicholls State Friday at 1 p.m. and will face tournament-host Southeast Missouri State next Saturday at 3:15 p.m.