Braves Host Indiana State Sunday In Battle For Fifth

Daryl Wilson

Women's Basketball 2/17/2018 2:28:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. – Fifth-place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings is on the line Sunday when Bradley Women's Basketball hosts Indiana State in a 2 p.m. game at Renaissance Coliseum to wrap up Play4Kay Weekend for the Braves.

Bradley (12-13 overall, 6-8 MVC) matched last season's overall win total with a 92-47 victory over Evansville Friday and is currently tied with I-74 rival Illinois State, which hosts Evansville Sunday, for sixth in the Valley standings. Indiana State (8-16 overall, 6-7 MVC) is alone in fifth place in the league standings despite a loss Friday at Illinois State, a half-game ahead of both the Braves and Redbirds.

Sunday's game will be available on ESPN3 as part of the MVC media rights agreement with ESPN. The Valley On ESPN3 can be viewed through WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. In addition, Ed Hammond will handle the radio broadcast on WIRL 1290 AM with links to the audio stream available at BradleyBraves.com

Along with concluding a two-game home stand, Sunday's outing vs. Indiana State wraps up Bradley's Play4Kay Weekend. Bradley Women's Basketball fans are invited to sign up for the Coach G 3-Point Challenge. Participants can pledge to donate a set dollar amount per Bradley 3-pointer made during both Friday's game against Evansville (7) and Sunday's matchup vs. Indiana State or a flat dollar amount. All proceeds from the Coach G 3-Point Challenge will go toward Play4Kay. To make your pledge visit HERE.

Play4Kay is the largest fundraising initiative of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, which since its inception has granted $5.38 million for scientific research focused on women's cancers.

Senior Anneke Schlueter came off the bench to help highlight Friday's 92-47 victory against Evansville with 19 points and five rebounds. With a three-pointer late in the third quarter of Friday's game vs. the Purple Aces, Schlueter passed Bradley head coach Andrea Gorski for 18^th on BU's career scoring list. Schlueter enters Sunday's game with 985 career points and is just 15 points from becoming the 18^th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. The last Brave to join the list was Michelle Young during the 2014-15 season (1,062 points – 15^th). In addition, Schlueter ranks sixth in school history with 146 career three-pointers, two behind Gorski (148 career three-pointers).

Friday's victory against Evansville was Bradley's 12^th of the season, matching last season's overall win total. The Braves have 12 wins before the end of February for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign, which resulted in an 18-16 overall record and a second-round appearance in the WBI.

Junior Vanessa Markert scored a game-high 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting to help highlight Friday's victory over Evansville. Markert had a 20-point game for the second consecutive outing, marking just the third time in the last five years a Bradley player has scored 20 or more points in back-to-back games. Friday's outing vs. Evansville was Markert's 14^th start of the season and the Braves have posted an 8-6 record when she is in the starting lineup compared to a 4-7 mark when she comes off the bench. Markert has averaged 11.4 points per game on 53.5 percent shooting and 4.4 rebounds per game in her starts, compared to 6.2 points on 37.5 percent shooting and 4.1 boards per game when she comes off the bench. With her four block effort against the Purple Aces Friday, Markert moved into a tie for 10^th in career blocks with fellow Mt. Sterling, Ill., product Leah Kassing and Mackenzie Westcott who both wrapped up their Bradley careers in 2011-12 with 83 career rejections.

Second-year Bradley head coach Andrea Gorski looks to join exclusive company in BU history after her team matched last season's overall win total at 12 with Friday's 92-47 victory over Evansville. With at least five games remaining, the Braves need just one more victory to make Gorski just the second head coach in program history to lead the team to an improved overall win total in each of their first two seasons. The only other Bradley Women's Basketball coach to do so was Paula Buscher, who was head coach from 2000-01 through the 2011-12 season.

Freshman guard Gabi Haack continues to show off her versatility after tallying nine points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals Friday against Evansville. Haack is the first Bradley player to hit 45 three-pointers and grab 150 rebounds in a season since Heather Best's senior year in 1998-99. In fact, she is just the third player in program history to collect 45 made three-pointers and at least 150 rebounds in a season with Tammy Van Oppen in 1996-97 turning in the only other season with those numbers. Haack's season rebound total is tied for seventh-best among Bradley freshman totals and she needs just eight points to become the 11^th freshman in program history to score 250 points.

While Gabi Haack is poised to become just the third freshman to lead the team in scoring in school history, she is certainly not the only rookie having an impact this season. Fellow freshman Nyjah White made her fifth start of the season Friday against Evansville and finished with four points, two boards, two assists and four steals. With at least five games remaining, White and Haack have combined for 360 points this season and the pair need just 23 points to become the highest scoring freshman Bradley duo since Katie Yohn and Olivia Allen combined for 429 points during the 2009-10 season.

Following Sunday's game, Bradley opens the final MVC road swing of the season Friday with a 7 p.m. game at defending league champion and conference leading Drake in Des Moines, Iowa.

Print Friendly Version