Today's Matchup
Both Valparaiso and Bradley will be looking to start out the season 2-0, when the two teams square off Monday evening at Robertson Memorial Field House.
Valparaiso opened the season with a 62-48 home win against Missouri Valley Conference foe Northern Iowa. Betsy Rietema led the Crusaders with 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting and added nine rebounds and six steals. Valparaiso has seven of 12 letterwinners, including three starters back from last year's squad that finished 18-10 overall and tied for second in the Mid-Continent Conference with a 12-4 record.
Bradley opened the 2005-06 season with a 78-73 comeback victory against Illinois-Chicago Friday. Freshman Kelly Krumwiede scored a game-high 22 points off the bench for the Braves, hitting 5-of-6 from the field and 12-of-15 from the free throw line. Junior Amy Peters posted her first career double-double with 15 points and career-high 15 rebounds. Two other Bradley players scored in double figures with junior Jen Brown and sophomore Devyn Flanagan both adding 10 points each. Bradley trailed by as many 15 points in the first half and 11 points in the second half. Krumwiede and Peters combined for 28 points and 15 rebounds in the second half to help spark the Braves to the victory.
Series History
Bradley and Valparaiso will be meeting for the first time since the 1985-86 season and just the fifth time in the all-time series. The Braves are 4-0 against the Crusaders, having scored 85 or more points in all four meetings. Bradley is 2-0 at home against the Crusaders.
The Coaches
Paula Buscher (Missouri State, ?86) is in her sixth year at Bradley and has a record of 64-76 (.457) at BU. Buscher led teams to improved records in each of her first five seasons as a collegiate head coach and six of her eight seasons overall. Buscher owns a 107-114 (.484) career record and is in her ninth year as a collegiate head coach. A longtime assistant coach at Nebraska-Omaha, Buscher coached Minnesota St.-Mankato during the 1997-98 season and returned to UNO as head coach for the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons, before coming to The Hilltop.
Keith Freeman (Huntington College ?86) is in his 12th season as head coach at Valparaiso and 18th as a collegiate head coach. Freeman has led the Crusaders to a 194-128 (.602) during his tenure at Valpo and owns a career coaching mark of 323-175 (.649).
Season Openers
Bradley opened its 31st season of intercollegiate competition with a 78-73 home victory against Illinois-Chicago The Braves are now 18-13 mark in season openers and are 13-5 when opening the season at home. Bradley opened the season at home for the second consecutive year and is now 22-9 overall in home openers, including a 4-2 mark in home openers under sixth-year head coach Paula Buscher.
Braves Look For 2-0 Start
Bradley will be attempting to start out the season 2-0 for the ninth time in school history Monday when the Braves take on Valparaiso. Bradley has started out 2-0 or better eight times, including twice under current head coach Paula Buscher. If the Braves do start out 2-0, it would make the first time Bradley had back-to-back seasons with 2-0 starts since the 1980-81 and 1981-82 seasons. Bradley is opening a season with consecutive home games for the first since the 1996-97 season and is looking to start out 2-0 with a pair of home victories for the first time since the 1987-88 campaign.
Braves Head To Florida
Bradley will be making its first trip to Florida since the 1993-94 season later this week, when the Braves travel to Miami, Fla., for the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament. Bradley will face tournament host Miami (Fla.) in the opening round of tournament play and either Duquesne or Oakland during Saturday's action. The Braves are 0-1 against Miami, losing to the Hurricanes 70-52 at the Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic in Moraga, Calif., in 2003-04. Bradley has never faced Oakland and won its only meeting with Duquesne, defeating the Dukes 75-69 in a season-opening tournament in Syracuse, N.Y. to kick off the 1988-89 season.
Krumwiede Shines In Debut
Freshman forward Kelly Krumwiede netted a game-high 22 points in the Braves season-opening comeback victory against Illinois-Chicago. Her 22 points were the most by a Bradley player in a season opener since Carrie Coffman scored 30 points at Missouri on Nov. 27, 1994 and the most by a Braves freshman since Judy Burns had 23 points against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Nov. 20, 1981.
Free Throw Story
Bradley missed five of its first eight free throw attempts against Illinois-Chicago, but recovered to connect on 24 of its final 27 shots from the charity stripe. The Braves converted 14 consecutive free throws to close the game. Bradley's 27 made free throws were the most for the Braves since making 27 of 37 against Illinois State on March 4, 2004. Leading the charge to the charity stripe was freshman Kelly Krumwiede, who made 12 of 15 free throw attempts on the day. Krumwiede's 12 makes at the line are the most by a Bradley player since Sara Bailey hit 12 free throws at Northern Illinois on Dec. 20, 2002 and her 15 attempts are the most since Stephanie White was a perfect 15-for-15 at Western Illinois on Dec. 4, 1998.
Peters Steps Up In The Clutch
With junior center Ashley Chelleen sidelined with an injury for the Braves season-opener against Illinois-Chicago, Bradley head coach Paula Buscher inserted junior center Amy Peters into the starting lineup. In just her third career start and first since her freshman season, Peters posted her first career double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Peters made 5-of-7 shots from the field, including her fourth career three-pointer and had a career best 15 boards, surpassing her previous career high of seven rebounds.
Braves Draw Over 2,000 For Season Opener
Thanks in part to over 1,500 school children in attendance for Friday's season opener against Illinois-Chicago, Bradley drew a crowd of 2,068 fans to open the season. The crowd is the seventh largest in school history and the most for a season opener in school history. Friday's attendance was the ninth crowd of over 2,000 in school history and the largest since drawing 2,189 fans for the Dec. 18, 2004 game against Jackson State at Carver Arena. It was the largest Robertson Field House crowd since drawing a school record 3,128 fans for the Jan. 6, 2002 game against I-74 rival Illinois State.
Buscher Now Second On Wins List
Sixth-year Bradley head coach Paula Buscher took over second place on Bradley's career win list Friday with the Braves victory at Illinois-Chicago. Buscher owns a 64-76 record as head coach at Bradley, passing Jan Winkler for second all-time. Lisa Boyer ranks as the Braves all-time winningest coach, owning a 124-149 record on The Hilltop.
Bradley Coaching Victories
Rank Name................................. Overall Record
1. Lisa Boyer (1986-96)........................ 124-149
2. Paula Buscher (2000-present)............ 64-76
3. Jan Winkler (1977-81).......................... 63-31
4. Angela Beck (1983-86)......................... 38-44
Braves Picked Eighth In Preseason Valley Poll
Bradley was picked to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2005-06 according to a vote of Valley coaches, sports information directors and media. The Braves, which have finished tied for sixth or better in each of the last three seasons, received 99 points in the poll to finish seven points ahead of ninth-place Wichita State and 91 points behind seventh-place finisher Illinois State. Indiana State received 34 of a possible 40 first-place votes to finish first in the voting.
MVC Preseason Poll
Rank Team (First-Place Votes).................. Points
1. Indiana State (34)................................... 393
2. Missouri State (3)................................... 349
3. Creighton (3)......................................... 302
4. Drake................................................... 271
5. Northern Iowa........................................ 219
6. Evansville............................................ 207
7. Illinois State........................................... 190
8. Bradley................................................. 99
9. Wichita State........................................... 92
10. Southern Illinois....................................... 78
Experience Returning
Despite losing six letterwinners from last year's squad, Bradley has quite a bit of experience returning in its nine letterwinners. The group has combined to play in 437 games or an average of 48 per individual and have 140 starts prior to the season opener. Seven of the nine returnees have started at least two games in their career with four individuals owning 17 starts or more. Juniors Jen Brown (55 starts) and Erika Nelson (43 starts) are the most experienced on the roster having both played over 1,000 minutes in their two-year careers.
Braves Post Winning Record
The Braves finished the 2004-05 season with a 15-13 record, marking the first winning season since the 2001-02 campaign. Bradley tied for sixth place in the final regular-season Valley standings for the third consecutive year and finished with a winning mark for the 13th time in the program's 30 years. The Braves 24 Valley victories over the last three years are the most by a Bradley squad since 1990-93.
Chelleen Ranks As Active Scoring Leader
Junior center Ashley Chelleen enters the 2005-06 season as the Braves active career scoring leader with 416 points. Bradley will open a season without a 500-point scorer on the roster for the first time since the 1999-2000 season when Nyagon Duany was the team's active scoring leader with 294 points. The only other Bradley squads in the last 25 years to open a season without a 500-point scorer were the 1992-93, 1985-86 and 1984-85 squads. Chelleen averaged 9.6 points per game as a freshman and was named to the Valley's All-Freshman team in 2002-03.
Road Warriors
Part of the reason for Bradley's success last year was the Braves ability to win on the road. Bradley finished with an 8-7 record in road and neutral contests, including a 7-6 mark in true road games. The Braves finished with a winning road record for the first time since the 1996-97 season, when the team finished 16-12 overall and 9-9 in conference play. Only three other conference foes finished with a better record away from home, with two of those teams advancing to postseason play (Missouri State and Creighton).
Brown Leads Valley In Assist-To-
Turnover Ratio For Second Straight Year
Junior Jen Brown led the Missouri Valley Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio for the second consecutive year, averaging 1.93 assists to every turnover in 2004-05. Brown was even better in conference play, owning a league-best 2.08 assist-to-turnover ratio as a sophomore. As a freshman she led the conference with a 1.78 assist-to-turnover ratio and was named to the MVC's all-freshman team.
MVC Assist/Turnover Ratio (2004-05)
Rank Name (Team).................................... Ratio
1. *Jen Brown (Bradley).......................... 1.93
2. Laura Spanheimer (Creighton)................. 1.66
3. *Melanie Boeglin (Indiana State)............... 1.63
4. *Kari Koch (Missouri State)..................... 1.47
5. Jaci McCormack (Illinois State)............... 1.39
* - Indicates returners for 2005-06.
Nelson Voted Most Improved
Junior guard Erika Nelson was voted the teams Most Improved Player following the 2004-05 season and it was her play down the stretch that helped secure the award. A starter in 43 games in her first two seasons, Nelson averaged 9.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game during the final nine contests of the year. Arguably the Braves most consistent player throughout much of the season, Nelson improved her outside shot. As a freshman she failed to make a three-point attempt, but in 2004-05 she made 14-of-28 three-pointers and connected on 33 of her 36 free throw attempts (.917).
MVC Tournament Changes
The Missouri Valley Conference announced several changes to the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament schedule for March 9-12 in Springfield, Mo. The most notable change is that all 10 teams will participate in the postseason event for the first time in conference history. The other major change was shifting of the tournament schedule from a Thursday, Friday, Saturday event to Thursday through Sunday due to the format change. The bracket will mirror the Valley's men's basketball tournament with the #7 through #10 seeds playing Thursday night with the winners advancing to Friday's quarterfinals to face the #1 and #2 seeds.
Brown Nears Top 10 In Assists
Junior Jen Brown ranked second in the Missouri Valley Conference in assists per game, averaging 4.96 assists per game in 2004-05. Brown's 139 assists last season were the most by a Bradley player since Tammy Van Oppen dished out 141 assists in 1996-97. With two years of eligibility remaining she is poised to climb into the Braves top 10 career leaders in assists and needs just 102 assists to move into third place all-time. Brown needs just seven assists to pass Erika Grogg for 10th on the Braves career list. She is the fourth player in program history to have 100 or more assists in back-to-back seasons and could join Kathy Stokes and Judy Burns as the only players to lead the team in assists in three different seasons.
Bradley's Assists Leaders (Season)
Rank Name (Year).......................... Total Assists
1. Kathy Stokes (1979-80)........................... 256
2. Judy Burns (1981-82)............................. 230
3. Judy Burns (1982-83)............................. 183
4. Kathy Stokes (1980-81)........................... 181
5. Tammy Van Oppen (1996-97).................. 141
6. Jen Brown (2004-05)............................. 139
7. Mary Lynn Schafer (1980-81).................. 129
Karin Nicholls (1989-90).......................... 129
Bradley's Career Assists Leaders
Rank Name (Years)......................... Total Assists
1. Kathy Stokes (1977-81)........................... 543
2. Judy Burns (1981-84)............................. 529
3. Andrea McAllister (1988-92)..................... 360
4. Dawn Cartwright (1992-96)...................... 353
5. Val Wancket (1987-91)............................ 338
6. Heather Best (1995-99)............................ 330
7. Karen Anderson (1979-83)....................... 302
8. Shelli Braud (1984-88)............................. 290
9. Nancy Zoros (1984-88)........................... 277
10. Erika Grogg (1990-94)............................. 265
11. Karin Nicholls (1986-90).......................... 264
12. Jen Brown (2003-present)..................... 259
Braves Welcome Four In 2005-06
Bradley picked up a pair of speedy guards and solid forwards for the 2005-06 season as the Braves welcomed 5-7 guard Skye Johnson (Olympia Fields, Ill./Marian Catholic), a 5-9 guard in Venessa Ostergaard (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview), 6-1 forward Mari Korton (Coon Rapids, Minn./Andover) and Kelly Krumwiede (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West), a 6-0 forward.
Minnesotans Unite
With the addition of Minnesota natives Venessa Ostergaard and Mari Korton, Bradley will feature three Minnesotans on the roster in 2005-06. The duo joins sophomore guard and fellow Minnesota native Libby Magnuson. Prior to Magnuson's arrival on The Hilltop, the Braves boasted only two other Minnesota products in Bonita Fricke (1992-93) and Megan McKee (1995-96). Bradley will add two more Minnesota natives in 2006-07, having received National Letters of Intent from forward Jenny Van Kirk (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) and Renee Frericks (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake H.S.) during the Fall Signing Period.
