MOLINE, Ill. – Bradley hung with #2 seed Northern Iowa for 35 minutes, before the Panthers used a 9-0 run to pull away as the Braves season came to an end with a 69-39 loss to the Panthers in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals Friday night at the iWireless Center.
 
Senior Leti Lerma turned in her 13^th double-double of the year with 10 points, 12 boards and four assists in her final game as a Brave.  Her 12-rebound effort pushed her final season total to 324, which ranks 11^th among MVC season marks and she closed out her career tied for 20^th in career rebounding in Valley history at 844.
 
The lead went back and forth throughout the first quarter and Bradley (12-19 overall) trailed 17-15 after the opening 10 minutes following a Danielle Brewer buzzer-beating layup to close the opening period.  The Braves opened the second quarter with back-to-back layups by Brewer and junior Anneke Schlueter to take a 19-17 lead and force a Northern Iowa (23-7 overall) timeout. 
 
A 7-2 Bradley spurt, which included a Schlueter three-pointer, Lerma hoop and Chelsea Brackmann jumper tied the score for the sixth time at 29-29 with 90 seconds left in the first half.  Northern Iowa took a 32-29 lead into the break on an Angie Davison three-pointer. 
 
The UNI lead was 37-33 nearing the six-minute mark of the third quarter after Lerma assisted a Schlueter jumper, but the Braves went cold from the field.  A three-minute scoring drought allowed the Panthers to go on a 9-0 run and UNI closed the third quarter with a 13-2 spurt to build a 50-35 lead. 
 
Northern Iowa scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter and closed out the 69-39 victory to advance to Saturday's 4 p.m. semifinal game.  After shooting 35 percent in the first half, the Panthers were 12-for-26 (46.2 percent) in the second half.
 
"Northern Iowa played a great second half," said Bradley head coach Andrea Gorski.  "I thought we did a great job of slowing them down in their sets in the first half, but they were able to spread us out in the second half."  
 
Lerma was the only Bradley player to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points, and also had 12 boards and four assists.  Freshman Alona Johnson collected nine points to help pace the Braves.
 
Three UNI players scored in double figures, paced by Ellie Herzberg's 17 points off the bench.  Megan Maahs added 14 points and nine boards, while Davison was also in double figures with 11 points.