MOLINE, Ill. – Senior Leti Lerma (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) notched her 12^th double-double of the year with 14 points and 14 rebounds to help Bradley lead from wire-to-wire in a 57-42 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament opening round victory over #10 seed Loyola Thursday at the iWireless Center.
 
Lerma broke Bradley's single season rebounding record early in the second half and finished with team highs of 14 points and 14 rebounds to go with five assists and three steals to pace three Braves (12-18 overall) in double figures. 
 
Bradley made 6-of-8 from the field to open the game, jumping out to a 13-6 advantage and led 17-11 at the end of the first after six points in the opening period by junior Danielle Brewer (Coatesville, Ind.).  Loyola (2-28 overall) cut the Bradley lead to 21-17 nearing the midway points of the second quarter before junior Anneke Schlueter (Ulm, Germany/Max-Weber-Schule) opened an 8-0 Bradley run with a three-pointer. 
 
Lerma had 10 rebounds in the first half for her fifth half of the season with 10 or more boards to help the Braves to a 29-19 halftime advantage. 
 
Brewer, who finished one rebound short of her first career double-double, knocked down back-to-back three-pointers for Bradley late in the third period as Bradley led 43-28 after 30 minutes of play.  The lead never dipped below 11 in the fourth as the Braves cruised to a 57-42 victory.  The 42 points were the second lowest point total by a Bradley opponent this season and fewest surrendered by the Braves in a Valley Tournament contest in program history.
 
"We knew we should have an advantage on the boards and got a big boost from Dani (Brewer)," said first-year head coach Andrea Gorski.  "We didn't give up a lot of open shots and did a good job of limiting Loyola to one shot."
 
Lerma now has 312 rebounds this season after her 14-board effort to break Sonya Harris' (2009-10) school season mark of 308.  In addition her 12 double-doubles ties for second among Bradley season marks as she turned in her third double-double in as many games at the iWireless Center. 
 
Joining Lerma in double figures were Brewer with 13 points and Schlueter with 10.  Brewer also added a season-best nine rebounds to help Bradley to a 47-26 rebounding advantage.  Freshman Chelsea Brackmann (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower) came off the bench to collect seven points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks in just 18 minutes.
 
Tiara Wallace led Loyola with 19 points and six assists, while Lee Williams added 10 points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench for the Ramblers.    
 
Bradley will face #2 seed Northern Iowa Friday at 6 p.m. in MVC Tournament quarterfinals at the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill.