Indiana State INS 11-11, 5-6 MVC

Bradley BRAD 9-13, 5-6 MVC

Indiana State INS

11-11, 5-6 MVC

Final

Feb. 05, 2017

Bradley BRAD

9-13, 5-6 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Indiana State INS	14	10	7	10	41
Bradley BRAD	12	15	16	11	54

Box Score

Duane Zehr, Bradley University ITPS

Braves Top Indiana St. 54-41 For Third Straight Win

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 2/5/2017 2:44:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. – Junior Danielle Brewer (Coatesville. Ind.) tossed in a career-high 18 points off the bench and Bradley held Indiana State to 27 percent shooting as the Braves earned their third consecutive victory with a 54-41 win over Indiana State Sunday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum in the final contest of a four-game home stand.

The win moved Bradley (9-13 overall, 5-6 MVC) into a tie with Indiana State (11-11 overall, 5-6 MVC) for fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference standings at 5-6 and the Braves now have their first three-game win streak since March of 2013. Bradley has won four of its last five games and is 5-6 or better to start MVC play for the first time 2009-10 (8-3). In addition the victory matched the team's win total from the entire 2015-16 season and surpassed the squad's MVC win total from last year.

"I couldn't be prouder of our effort today," said Bradley head coach Andrea Gorski. "We got off to a sluggish start, but I think we just really wanted this one. We were able to start switching on ball screens after some foul trouble forced us to play a smaller lineup and that really got us back in the game."

Bradley trailed 14-12 at the end of the first quarter with Chelsea Brackmann (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower) going the length of the floor to hit a buzzer-beating runner in the lane.

Indiana State scored the first six points of the second quarter as the Sycamores took their biggest lead of the contest at 20-12. The Braves picked up the defensive pressure, holding Indiana State scoreless for nearly a five-minute stretch. The Sycamores opened the game 9-for-23 (39.1 percent) over the first 13 minutes, but made just 8-of-40 (20 percent) from the field to close the game.

Brewer sparked an 11-0 Bradley run with a three-pointer from the top of the key. Senior Leti Lerma (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) had a three-point play on a put-back basket with 5:19 left and she found Brewer for another three-pointer with 4:39 remaining in the quarter to put the Braves ahead 21-20. Lerma added a layup at the three-minute mark as Bradley grabbed a 23-22 advantage.

Brewer scored nine of her 12 first-half points in the final 6:45 of the second quarter, helping Bradley outscore Indiana State 15-4 down the stretch and take a 27-24 halftime lead.

Freshman Alona Johnson (Milwaukee, Wis./Riverside) opened the scoring in the third quarter with a driving layup and Lerma found Brewer for her third three-pointer of the afternoon to push the Bradley lead to 32-24 in the opening minutes of the second half.

Brewer's fourth three of the contest gave Bradley a 10-point cushion (39-29) with three minutes to play in the third and the Braves took a 43-31 lead into the fourth quarter.

Bradley scored the first four points of the fourth, capping a 13-2 run which stretched a 35-29 BU lead with 3:57 to play in the third to a 16-point advantage (47-31) with just over seven minutes left on the clock. The Braves held Indiana State to 1-for-12 shooting during the near seven-minute stretch. The Sycamores got no closer than 10 points as Bradley earned the 54-41 victory and held consecutive opponents to 45 points or less for the first time since November 2011.

Brewer was 4-for-6 from beyond the arc and finished with a career-best 18 points to pace Bradley. Lerma had 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds for her conference-leading ninth double-double of the season. She moved up two spots on Bradley's career rebounding list into third, moving ahead of both Eileen Yerkes (739 rebounds) and Carrie Coffman (740 rebounds) in school history with her 752 career boards.

Rhagen Smith was the lone Indiana State player to reach double figures, notching 10 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.

Bradley opens a two-game road swing Friday with a 7 p.m. game at Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Print Friendly Version