The Matchup

    I-74 rivals Illinois State and Bradley clash for the first time this season when the Redbirds visit Robertson Memorial Field House Sunday for a 12:07 p.m. contest.  Sunday's game will be televised on Fox Sports Net.

    Both teams enter the game with five-game losing streaks and both squads are looking for their first conference victory of the season.

    Illinois State is coming off a 69-75 setback at Northern Iowa on Thursday night and bring a 5-8 overall mark and 0-4 Valley record into Sunday's tilt.

    Freshman Kristi Cirone leads the Redbirds in scoring at 13.2 points per game and is also averaging a team-best 4.8 assists per game.  Senior Holly Halstrom is also averaging 14.2 points per game and a team-high 8.8 rebounds per game.

    The Redbirds have two other players averaging in double figures in sophomore Amber Shelton (12.6 points per game) and junior guard Megan McCracken (11.2 points per game).

    Bradley is looking to snap a five game losing streak against Ilinois State Sunday afternoon.  The five-game skid is the longest for the Braves since dropping six straight midway through MVC play in 2003-04.

   Bradley is led in scoring by sophomore Devyn Flanagan who is averaging 10.7 points per game.  Flanagan also ranks second for the Braves in rebounding at 5.2 boards per tilt.  Junior Amy Peters scoring average just dipped below double digits as she is now averaging 9.9 points per game and is shooting 60.9 percent from three-point range.  Junior center Ashley Chelleen missed the first two games of the season due to injury but has returned to the lineup to average 8.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game over the last 12 contests after scoring 18 points off the bench Thursday against Indiana State. 

    Freshman forward Kelly Krumweide made her first career start against the Sycamores and had her first career double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds to raise her season averages to 8.1 points and 6.1 boards.

    Rebounding has been the key in the early going for Bradley.  The Braves have matched or outrebounded their opponents in nine of the 14 games to date and are averaging 37.9 boards per game, including 14.2 offensive rebounds per tilt and are outrebounding their foes by over two rebounds per game.

Illinois State Series History

    Bradley hosts I-74 rival Illinois Sunday at Robertson Field House at 12:05 p.m.  Sunday's contest will be televised on Fox Sports Net.  Illinois State holds a 34-22 edge in the all-time series, but Bradley has won two of the last three meetings and four of the last six in the series.  The Braves are 6-4 against the Redbirds under head coach Paula Buscher and have won the last five meetings in Peoria.  Illinois State is 15-12 against Bradley in games played in Peoria, including a 13-9 record in regular-season Valley games.

The Coaches

    Paula Buscher (Missouri State, ?86) is in her sixth year at Bradley and has a record of 67-86 (.438) 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 110-124 (.470) 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.

    Robin Pingeton (St. Ambrose ?90) is in her third season as head coach at Illinois State and 11th overall as a collegiate head coach.  The 2004 Rawlings Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, she has a 34-39 (.466) record at Illinois State and a career coaching mark of 228-115 (.665), which includes eight seasons as head coach at St. Ambrose.  Pingeton led the Redbirds to the 2005 NCAA Tournament after winning last season's State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Chelleen Shines Off The Bench

    After making four consecutive stats junior center Ashley Chelleen returned to the bench for Thursday's game against Indiana State and turned in her highest scoring output in nearly three years.  Chelleen connected on 8-of-14 shots and scored a team-best 18 points in the Braves loss.  Her season-high entering the game against the Sycamores had been 15 points and she hadn't scored more than 17 points in a game since netting 19 points in a loss at Indiana State on Feb. 7. 2003.

Krumwiede Comes Up Big In First Start

    While Ashley Chelleen turned in a big performance in her return to the bench, freshman Kelly Krumwiede had an equally big impact in her first career start, finishing with her first career double-double.  Krumwiede had 14 points and 17 rebounds in her first career start against the Sycamores.  Her 17 rebounds tied for the 10th best rebounding effort in school history and is the most by a Brave since Dena Williams hauled down 17 boards against Southern Illinois on Feb. 12, 2005.

Free Throw Woes

    Bradley shot nearly 75 percent from the free throw line in non-conference action, but has since struggled from the free throw line, making just 58.5 percent of its free throw attempts in it's five Missouri Valley Conference games.  In fact Bradley made 18-of-22 (81.8 percent) of its free throw attempts in the first game and a half of Valley play.  After making 6-of-7 free throw attempts in the first half against Creighton, Bradley has gone cold from the line, making just 37 of the team's last 72 free throw attempts (51.4 percent).  While the Braves have struggled from the free throw line, they have actually improved their shooting from the field.  Bradley shot 39.7 percent from the field against non-conference foes, but is shooting 42 percent in Valley play. 

Chelleen Tops 500 Points

    Junior center Ashley Chelleen scored her 500th career point last weekend to become the 40th player in school to reach the 500-point plateau.  Chelleen entered the 2005-06 season as the Braves active career scoring leader with 416 points and and missed the first two games of the year, but is averaging 8.7 points per game since returning to the floor for the Braves contest at Miami and currently has 520 career points entering Sunday's game against Illinois State.  A total of 30 players in school history have reached the 600-point mark during their careers.

Peters On the Mark

    Junior Amy Peters connected on 9-of-10 shots from the field in last Saturday's loss at Southern Illinois to tie for the third best shooting effort in school history.  Peters 90 percent shooting was the best field goal percentage by a Brave since BU Hall of Famer Shelli Braud made 9-of-10 shots at Illinois-Chicago on Jan. 27, 1987.  Peters is the fifth different Bradley player to shoot 90 percent or better in a game on 10 or more shots. 

BU Single Game FG Percentage

FG%   Name (FG-FGA) Opponent.................. Date

.917                    Roxanne Grabow (11-12) at Chicago St.................................................................................. 11/27/82

.917                    Karen Anderson (11-12) vs. Chicago St..................................................................................... 12/12/81

.900                    Amy Peters (9-10) at Southern Illinois...................................................................................... 1/7/06

.900    Shelli Braud (9-10) at Illinois-Chicago... 1/27/87

.900    Connie Griffith (9-10) vs. Eureka......... 12/4/78

Braves Fall Despite Best Shooting Effort Of The Year

    Bradley shot a season-best 56 percent Saturday in the Braves 66-64 loss at Southern Illinois.  The loss ended a six-game win streak in games in which Bradley shot 50 percent or better.  The loss was the first when shooting better than 50 percent since losing to Creighton (64-68) on Feb. 22, 2004.  The Braves hadn't lost a road game in which they shot better than 50 percent since falling at Indiana State (69-71) on Jan. 1, 2001.  Bradley is 14-3 under head coach Paula Buscher when shooting 50 percent or better.

Brown Moves Into Eighth On Assist List

                Junior guard Jen Brown is closing in on 300 career assists, needing four assists to become the eighth player in school history to reach that mark.  She enters Sunday's game against Illinois State needing seven assists to pass Karen Anderson for seventh place.  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.  Brown currently ranks second on the team with 38 assists and is averaging 2.7 assists per game.

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.       Jen Brown (2003-present)..................... 296

9.       Shelli Braud (1984-88)............................. 290

10.      Nancy Zoros (1984-88)........................... 277

Carrie Coffman To Be Inducted Into Hall of Fame

    Former Bradley standout Carrie Coffman (1991-95) will be inducted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend.  Coffman was a first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection in 1994-95.  A native of Rockford, Ill., Coffman ranks eighth in school history with 1,313 career points.  She also ranks third in school history with 740 career rebounds and her 7.9 career rebounding average is second at Bradley.  Coffman also holds the BU mark for double-doubles in a season (19) and career (28).

0-2, Nothing New

    Bradley opened Missouri Valley Conference play with a pair of losses, but an 0-2 start to Valley play is nothing new for the Braves.  The Braves have opened conference play with an 0-2 mark for the 15th time in 23 seasons of conference affiliation.  Bradley started out 2004-05 Valley play witha 1-1 record, ending a seven-year stretch of 0-2 starts to league play.  The Braves did qualify for the eight-team Valley tournament each of the last four times starting out 0-2 or worse, including the 2002-03 season when Bradley finished 9-6 following an 0-3 start to Valley play.  The Braves have now had a total of seven starts of 0-4 or worse to conference play.  Bradley has opened Valley play with five consecutive losses just twice, going 0-6 in 2000-01 and 0-18 in 1998-99.

Magnuson Has Career Day Against Jays

    Sophomore guard Libby Magnuson had a career day against Creighton, posting her first career double-double with personal bests of 14 points and 10 assists against the Bluejays.  Magnuson is just the fifth player in school history with a point-assist double-double and the first since Jen Brown had 11 points and 11 assists against Indiana State last season.  Magnuson's point-assist double-double marked the 14th time in school history a Bradley player reached double figures in both points and assists in the same game.  Judy Burns accomplished the feat 10 times in her career.

Peters Dialing In From Long Range

    Junior center Amy Peters entered the 2005-06 season shooting 12 percent from three-point range (3-for-25), but is shooting a blistering 61 percent from three-point range this year.  Peters made two of her 22 three-point shots last season with both being key baskets in Bradley road victories (at Illinois and at Missouri State).  This season she has hit 14 of her 23 three-point attempts and has made at least one trey in nine of the 14 games to date.  Peters and freshman guard Venessa Ostergaard (42.9 percent) are the only Braves shooting better than 32 percent from three-point range, while the rest of the team is a combined 42-for-173 or 24.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Chelleen Returns To Starting Lineup

    Bradley had a much different look to its lineup for its Missouri Valley Conference opener as junior center Ashley Chelleen made her first start of the season against Drake.  Chelleen, who hadn't started a game since Jan. 30, 2004 at Creighton, finished with nine points, four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal in a season-high 26 minutes against the Bulldogs.  She made a total of one start last season and has started a total of four consecutive games.  She hadn't started back-to-back games since appearing in the starting lineup for the final 15 games of the 2002-03 campaign.

Braves Wrap Up Non-Conference Play                     Bradley was the first Valley team to wrap up the non-conference portion of its schedule, defeating Saint Louis 77-65 on Dec. 18.  Bradley is 31-22 (.585) in non-conference games under head coach Paula Buscher.  Since the Braves began playing a round-robin conference schedule in 1983-84, Bradley has posted a 113-89 (.559) record in non-conference games.  The Braves are 14-8 (.636) in non-conference home games under Buscher.  Only Lisa Boyer owned a better non-conference home winning percentage at Bradley with a 22-8 (.733) record from 1986-96.  The Braves are 53-28 (.654) at home against non-conference foes since the start of the 1983-84 campaign.

Flanagan Having Breakthrough Season

    Sophomore Devyn Flanagan heads into Sunday's game against Indiana State leading the team with a 10.7 points per game average and is also one of the team's top rebounders at 5.2 boards per game.  Just 14 games into her sophomore season she has already surpassed her season scoring and rebounding totals from her freshman season in 2004-05.   As a freshman, Flanagan scored 122 points (4.7 ppg) and grabbed 47 rebounds (1.8 rpg).  In addition to the improved production, she has also been much more efficient, improving her overall field goal percentage to 38.7 percent this year and 31.9 percent from three-point range after shooting 37.3 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from beyond the arc in 2004-05.

Braves Wrap Up Five-Game Homestand

    Bradley wraped up its season-long five-game homestand last weekend against Missouri Valley Conference foe Creighton.  The Braves had't played five consecutive games at home since going 2-3 during a five-game homestand during the 1991-92 season.  The Braves defeated DePaul and Louisville to open the homestand before falling to Creighton, Illinois State and Indiana State.  The five-game homestand ties for the second longest home stretch in program history, second only to a seven-game homestand during the 1981-82 season.  Bradley will play 12 of its final 21 games at home.

Bring In The Reserves

    Sixth-year Bradley head coach Paula Buscher hasn't had any trouble turning to her bench in a pinch as the Braves reserves are averaging 29.4 points per game.  Bradley's reserves have outscored their counterparts 412 to 221 on the year or by nearly 14 points per contest.  Junior center Ashley Chelleen has played in eight games off the bench and is averaging 8.7 points per tilt, while freshman Kelly Krumwiede has appearned in 13 games as a reserve and is throwing in 8.1 points per game to help lead the Braves reserves.

Braves Start Out 2-0

    Bradley posted its ninth 2-0 start in program history and has now opened back-to-back seasons with 2-0 records for the first time since the 1980-81 and 1981-82 seasons.  This year's 2-0 start marks the third time the Braves have opened a season with consecutive wins under head coach Paula Buscher.  Bradley hadn't opened a season with back-to-back home wins since the 1987-88 campaign. 

Chelleen Returns To The Lineup

    Junior center Ashley Chelleen missed the first two games of the season due to a foot injury, but returned to the lineup during the Braves trip to Florida for the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament.  Chelleen scored four points and added one steal in just six minutes of action in her season debut against Miami (Fla.), but has made steady improvement each outing.  She led the Braves in scoring in rebounding with 15 points and seven rebounds in the victory at Loyola on Dec. 2.  Chelleen is averaging 7.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 54.5 percent from the field on the season.

Krumwiede Crashing The Boards

    Freshman Kelly Krumwiede is currently leading the team lead in  rebounding through the first 14 games of the season, pulling down an average of 6.1 boards per contest.  While she is averaging just 2.9 defensive rebounds per game, she has already collected 45 offensive boards and ranks among the Valley leaders with a 3.2 offensive boards per game average.  Krumwiede's offensive boards have helped the Braves average 14.2 offensive rebounds and 11 second chance points per game. 

Flanagan Earns All-Tournament Honors At Miami

    Sophomore Devyn Flanagan earned all-tournament honors at the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament (Nov. 25 & 26) in Miami, Fla., averaging 15.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in a pair of games.  Flanagan posted her first career double-double against the Miami Hurricanes, finishing with career and game highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds.  She hit 10-of-20 shots from the field and also added one assist and two steals in the 61-73 loss.

Double Overtime Wins

    Bradley's double-overtime victory against Valparaiso on Nov. 21, was the first overtime for the Braves in nearly two years.  The Braves last overtime contest was a 78-79 loss on Jan. 4, 2004 and was the first overtime win for Bradley since defeating St. Mary's (Calif.), 64-57, on Nov. 28, 2003.  Bradley is 16-16 in overtime games and 4-3 under head coach Paula Buscher.  BU is now 3-3 in games that have gone to two overtimes or more and ended a three-game losing streak in double overtime contests.  The last two overtime tilt was a 77-82 loss at Southwest Missouri State on Dec. 29, 2001.  Bradley's last victory in a game that went at least two extra periods was a 90-86 triple overtime win at Eastern Illinois on Feb. 1, 1992.

Up Next

    Bradley closes out the month of January with three consecutive road games, beginning Saturday with a game at Northern Iowa (Jan. 21).  The Braves own a 30-15 lead in the all-time series with the Panthers, which includes a 12-10 advantage in games played in Cedar Falls, Iowa.  The teams have split each of the last 10 meetings following a five-game UNI win streak in the series.

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. 

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  with the Braves season opening victory at Illinois-Chicago.  Buscher owns a 67-86 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)............ 67-86

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.

Road Warriors

    Part of the reason for Bradley's success last year was the Braves ability to win on the road.  This season the Braves are 1-4 in true road games and 1-5 in games not played at Robertson Memorial Field House.  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).

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.

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.