PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley tied a season-low with 14 turnovers, but couldn't overcome poor shooting as Drake defeated the Braves 68-62 in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams at Robertson Memorial Field House Thursday night. Bradley fell to 4-6 overall and 0-1 in Valley play with the loss, while Drake evened its record at 5-5 and is now 1-0 in league action.

Junior Amy Peters led the Braves with team highs of 15 points and six rebounds. She connected on each of her first three three-point attempts in the first half and finished the night 6-of-11 from the field. Junior Jen Brown was the only other Bradley player in double figures with 11 points and a team-best three steals. Sophomore Devyn Flanagan added nine points and a team-high nine assists, while junior Ashley Chelleen made her first start of the season and finished with nine points, two assists and two blocked shots in 26 minutes of action.

Drake hit seven of its first eight shots to race out to an early 15-8 lead with just under 14 minutes to play in the first half. The Braves were equally as cold to open the contest, making just four of their first 18 shots. The Bulldogs led by as many as eight points (21-13) in the opening half and held a 23-17 lead with just under six minutes before the break, when junior Amy Peters scored five consecutive points for the Braves to trim the Bulldog lead to one (23-22) on a three-pointer with 4:38 left in the half.

Bradley tied the game at 28-28 on a free throw by junior Jen Brown with 2:18 left in the half. After the Bulldogs great start from the field, Drake made just seven of its final 20 shots from the field, while Bradley connected on six of its final 12 shots in the period to trail Drake by one point (31-30) at the half.

The Braves took a 39-38 lead on a Kelly Krumwiede basket with 16:08 to play, before Drake had four different players score during a 9-0 run that pushed the Bulldogs advantage back to eight at 47-39 with 13:55 remaining. Drake took its largest lead on the night at 12 points on a three-point play by Brandy Dahir with 8:53 on the clock.

Drake led 61-51 with just over six minutes to play, before Bradley's defense held the Bulldogs scoreless for the next 4:38. The Braves had a drought of their own, however, going scoreless for just over three minutes during the same stretch but managed to cut the deficit to 61-55 with two minutes remaining. Junior Erika Nelson hit a three-pointer with 1:18 to play to pull the Braves to within four points at 62-58 and Brown had a driving layup following a missed free throw by Drake to cut the Bulldogs lead to three points (63-60) with 31 seconds to play.

Jill Martin made a pair of free throws with just under 30 seconds remaining to push Drake's lead back to five points (65-60) and made five of six free throw attempts in the final 30 seconds of play to help seal the 68-62 victory for Drake.

Drake dominated play inside, owning a 40-24 edge in points in the paint and outrebounded Bradley by eight (39-31). The Bulldogs transition game also proved key in the win as Drake held a 16-6 advantage in fast break points. Dahir led all scorers with 21 points on a perfect nine-for-nine shooting effort. Martin added 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Bulldogs.

Bradley closes out its season-long five-game homestand Saturday when the Braves play host to Creighton at 2:05 p.m. at Robertson Memorial Field House.