PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley held Indiana State, the top offense team in the Valley, to its second lowest point total of the season, but the Braves couldn't muster enough offense to upend the Sycamores, falling 63-50 to Indiana State Thursday night in Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball action at Robertson Memorial Field House.

The Braves (7-12 overall, 3-5 MVC) had a rough first half, shooting 25.7 percent from the field and trailed 37-23 at the break. Bradley missed all 13 of its three-point attempts in the opening half, while Indiana State connected on 8-14 three-point attempts (57.1) in the first 20 minutes to take a double-digit lead into the locker room.

Bradley's offense appeared to be clicking in the early moments of the second half helping the Braves trim the Sycamore lead to six points. After Indiana State opened the half with a basket on its first possession, senior Jen Brown nailed a three-pointer to spark a 10-0 Bradley run that pulled the Braves to within six points (39-33) with 15:23 to play.

A Jasmin Wright jumper with 11:40 remaining cut the deficit to five points, but Bradley would go cold from the field, making just one of its next 10 field goal attempts and going 2-for-4 from the line during a seven-minute stretch. The Sycamores capitalized on the Braves offensive woes, using a 16-4 run to take their biggest lead of the night (59-42) with 4:53 to play. Bradley scored on three consecutive possessions, but couldn't trim the Indiana State lead under 13 points as the Sycamores won for the sixth consecutive time in the series.

Indiana State (11-8 overall, 4-4), the defending regular-season MVC champion, came into the game third in the nation in scoring at 82.2 points per game, but was held to its second-lowest point total of the season and lowest scoring game in conference play.

Nelson led all players with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting and also added four steals. Senior Amy Peters was the only other Bradley player in double figures and nearly notched her second career double-double, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds. Junior Devyn Flanagan was limited to just four points, but added 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and four steals.

A balanced offensive attack helped the Sycamores to the win, as six players scored between seven and 11 points. Leah Phillips led Indiana State with 11, while Rachel Maenpaa (10 points, nine rebounds) and Laura Rudolphi (10, eight boards) both nearly had double-doubles for the Sycamores.

After shooting 25.7 percent (9-for-35) in the first half, Bradley opened the second half by hitting four of its first five shots and was 6-for-10 from the field in the period after Wright's basket cut it to five points with 11:40 on the clock. The Braves held Indiana State to 30.4 percent shooting in the second half, including 0-for-7 from beyond the three-point arc, but Bradley made five of its final 19 shots.

Bradley will return to action Sunday when the Braves face I-74 rival Illinois State at 2:05 p.m. in Normal, Ill. Sunday's game will be televised in the Peoria area on WTVP and will also be broadcast on WMBD 1470 AM.