Box Score CHICAGO, Ill. ? Senior Devyn Flanagan (Riverton, Ill./Riverton) scored a season-high 18 points and sophomore Jenny Van Kirk (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) added 17 points to lead the Bradley women's basketball team to its first road win of the season as the Braves topped Loyola 80-56 Wednesday night at the Gentile Center.
Bradley (3-5 overall) held a 12-point lead at the half and scored the first eight points of the second half to build a 48-28 lead with 14 minutes remaining. The Braves pressured Loyola (1-7 overall) into 18 first-half turnovers and had a 17-4 advantage in points off turnovers at the break.
Van Kirk scored 11 points in the first half of play, hitting 5-of-7 shots and scored four points to help key an 11-0 spurt that gave the Braves a 22-12 lead with 7:34 remaining in the half. Flanagan added 10 points in the opening half of play to help Bradley to a 40-28 lead.
The Ramblers trimmed the Braves lead to as few as 12 points and led 52-39 with just over 11 minutes to play, before Bradley put the game out of reach with a 9-1 run to go ahead 61-40 with 8:10 to play. Van Kirk hit a layup, pulled down a defensive rebound and knocked down her second three-pointer of the night during a 30 second span to help highlight the spurt.
Flanagan had scored a total of 12 points in the last four games, but broke out of her scoring slump by hitting 8-of-13 from the field and finished with a game and season-high 18 points to go along with three assists. She moved up three spots on Bradley's career scoring list and is now 23rd all-time with 812 points. Flanagan passed Karen Richardson (798 points), Kathy Stokes (802 points) and former teammate Jen Brown (805 points).
Bradley shot a season-best 47.4 percent from the field and connected on 6-of-12 three-point attempts. The Braves also snapped a seven-game losing streak in non-conference road games and posted their largest margin of victory in a road game since downing Southern Illinois 68-42 in Carbondale, Ill., on Jan. 16, 2005.
Loyola shot 38.6 percent from the field, but committed 25 turnovers on the night. Maggie McCloskey connected on 5-of-10 three-point attempts and finished with a team-high 15 points to lead the Ramblers. Brittany Boeke finished added a double-double, posting 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Bradley outrebounded Loyola 41-32 and hauled down 18 offensive boards en route to a 17-4 edge in second chance points. The Braves also held a 46-20 advantage in points in the paint and the BU reserves outscored their Loyola counterparts 31-5.
Bradley returns to action Saturday when the Braves host Toledo at 2:05 p.m. at Robertson Memorial Field House.
