For Starters

    Bradley opened its 34th season of intercollegiate competition with a 67-60 victory against Loyola-Chicago.  The Braves are attempting to open a season with back-to-back victories for the first time since the 2005-06 season, which is also the last time BU opened a season with consecutive home games.  Eastern Illinois is coming off a four-point loss at Illinois Sunday and brings a 1-1 record into Wednesday's meeting.

About Eastern Illinois

    The preseason favorite to win the Ohio Valley Conference, Eastern Illinois brings a 1-1 record into Wednesday's meeting at Lorene Ramsey Gym. 

    The Panthers opened the season with an 82-74 home win against Miami (Ohio) before falling 45-49 at Illinois.  EIU led by 12 points at halftime against the Illini, before a poor shooting second half allowed Illinois to pull out the victory.

    Eastern Illinois returned 11 of 12 letterwinners, including all five starters from last year's team which finished 19-13 overall and was second in the OVC with a 15-5 league mark. 

    Senior forward Rachel Galligan was a first-team All-OVC performer last year and is leading the Panthers in scoring at 11.5 points per game.  Galligan is also pulling down 8.0 rebounds per contest.

    Senior guard Ellen Canale is EIU's leading rebounder at 8.5 caroms per tilt and is also scoring in double figures at 10.0 points per game. 

    Three other players are averaging nine points or more per game, including junior guard Megan Edwards, who is scoring 9.5 points per game while dishing out 5.5 assists per outing.

    The Panthers have held their opponents to 36.8 percent shooting in the first two games of the year.

About Bradley

    Bradley features one of the most experienced rosters in the Missouri Valley Conference, returning eight letterwinners from last year's squad.  The Braves roster includes six of the top seven scorers from 2007-08, but also features eight newcomers (seven freshmen and one sophomore).

    Junior guard Skye Johnson was named the 2007-08 Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year and led the team in scoring at 9.5 points per game.  She will take over the primary ball-handling duties in 2008-09 after ranking second on the team with 99 assists (3.3 apg).  Johnson, who led the MVC with 82 steals, was also second on the team with 17 blocked shots and is just the fifth player in program history with 250 points, 75 assists, 75 rebounds and 70 steals in a season.

    Senior Kelly Krumwiede headlines a strong group of front court players.  She averaged 9.4 points and team-best 6.2 rebounds per game as a junior.  Krumwiede enters the season as the Braves active career leader in scoring and rebounding and needs 181 boards to become the sixth player in program history with 700 career rebounds. 

    Bradley lost two starters to graduation (Devyn Flanagan and Rachel Merriman) but returns 72 percent of the team's scoring and better than 70 percent of the team's rebounding from 2007-08.  BU is one of three teams in the Valley to return 70 percent of both its scoring and rebounding. 

    The Braves opened the season with a 67-60 victory against Loyola-Chicago Saturday.  Senior Monica Rogers scored 15 second-half points and grabbed eight rebounds after the half to help Bradley erase a 12-point deficit. 

The Coaches

    Paula Buscher (Missouri State, ?86) is in her ninth year at Bradley and has a record of 97-132 (.424) at BU.  The dean of Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball coaches, Buscher led teams to improved records in each of her first five seasons as a collegiate head coach and eight of her 11 seasons overall.  Buscher owns a 140-170 (.452) career record and is in her 12th year as a collegiate head coach.  She is the second winningest coach in school history and led Bradley to its first MVC Tournament victory since 1996 last season.  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.

    Brady Sallee (Thomas More College ?93) is in his fifth year as head coach at Eastern Illinois. He has led the Panthers to a 50-69 (.420) record during his time in Charleston, Ill.

Bradley vs. the Ohio Valley Conference

    Bradley is 17-17 (.500) against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Braves are 15-17 against Eastern Illinois, which includes a 2-2 record since the Panthers have been a member of the OVC.  BU and EIU were both members of the Gateway Conference from between the 1983-84 season and 1991-92 campaign.  The Panthers were 9-7 against the Braves as members of the Gateway Conference.  Bradley is 1-0 against both Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay.

Eastern Illinois Series

    The Panthers hold a 17-15 lead in the all-time series, but the Braves are 9-6 against EIU in home contests.  Wednesday's game will be just the fifth meeting since the two teams were both members of the Gateway Conference (1983-84 through 1991-92).  Bradley has won two of the last three meetings with Eastern Illinois and four of the last six overall.

Last Time Out

    Bradley overcame an 11-points halftime deficit to defeat Loyola 67-60 to open the 2008-09 season Saturday.  Senior Monica Rogers scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the second half and finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.  Sophomore Sonya Harris added 14 points, 11 rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals, while junior guard Skye Johnson was also in double figures with 13 points.  Johnson also had six assists and six steals.

Season Openers

    Bradley opened its 34th year of intercollegiate competition with a 67-60 victory against in-state foe Loyola. 

The Braves are now 20-14 all-time in season openers and opened the season against an in-state opponent for the fourth consecutive year.  Bradley is 15-5 when opening the season at home and now 11-2 when opening the season against an in-state opponent.   The Braves are 6-3 in season openers under head coach Paula Buscher.

Heavy Home Schedule To Start

    Bradley will have a heavy home schedule to open the 2008-09 season, playing three of its first four games of the year at home.  The Braves have not opened a season with three of four games at home since the 1983-84 season.  BU opened the 1983-84 campaign with a road game at Purdue, before returning home to face Wisconsin, Illinois and Northern Illinois.  The Braves open with consecutive home games for the ninth time in program history and the first since the 2005-06 campaign.  Bradley has opened the season with back-to-back home wins three of the previous eight times BU has opened with a pair of home contests.

In-State Opponents

    Bradley's first four opponents of the 2008-09 season each call the state of Illinois home, marking the first time the Braves open a season with four consecutive in-state opponents since the 1976-77 season.  Bradley is 21-13 (.618) against in-state non-conference opponents under ninth-year head coach Paula Buscher.  BU is 38-29 (.567) against in-state foes during Buscher's tenure, which includes an 18-16 mark against Illinois State and Southern Illinois.

Braves Overcome 30 Turnovers

    Usually 30 turnovers in a game would result in a loss, but the Braves managed to pull out a win Saturday against Loyola, despite committing 30 turnovers against the Ramblers.  The 30 turnovers are the most in a game by Bradley since Feb. 7, 2003 and the Braves won a game in which they committed 30 or more turnovers for the first time since downing Evansville in overtime on Feb. 3, 2000.

Lund Starts First Game

    Freshman guard Michelle Lund started the Braves season opener, making her the 13th freshman since the start of the 1981-82 season to start in a season opener for Bradley.  Lund is the third freshmen to start a season opener under ninth-year head coach Paula Buscher, joining Jen Brown and Jaime Lugge.  Below is a list of freshmen to start in a season opener for the Braves along with their points, rebounds and assists for that outing.

Name                Date               Pts.      Reb.     Ast.

Michelle Lund   11/15/08            3          6          5

Jen Brown          11/21/03            5          3          5

Jaime Lugge       11/16/01            3          4          4

Sarah Sommer  11/20/99            7          6          1

Lynn Pastucha   11/20/99            8          8          0

Heather Best        11/24/95            9          1          5

Dawn Cartwright  12/1/92              3          6          4

Liza Reed          11/25/91            2          5          1

Dawyel Jones     11/24/89            6          3          2

Kelly Mazza        11/26/88            7          1          3

Karin Nicholls   11/28/86            6          6          0

Kelly Miller          11/28/83           12          3          1

Judy Burns       11/20/81           23          2          2

* Bold indicates home games.

Double Trouble

    Sophomore forward Sonya Harris has picked up right where she left off in 2007-08, turning in a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds in the Braves season opener against Loyola.  Harris has recorded four consecutive double-doubles dating back to last season and has double-doubles in five of her last seven games.  She has scored in double figures or hauled down 10 or more rebounds in seven consecutive games, dating back to a scoreless outing at Wichita State (Feb. 16, 2008) in which she grabbed just one rebound in eight minutes of play. 

Up Next

    Bradley will play its road opener Saturday when the Braves visit Illinois-Chicago.  BU owns a 12-3 lead in the all-time series and has claimed six of the last seven meetings against UIC.  The Braves are 4-2 against the Flames in games played in Chicago.

Braves Picked Eighth In Preseason Poll

    Bradley was picked eighth in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll, after finishing eighth in the 2007-08 regular-season race.  Bradley's roster featured eight of 13 letterwinners from last year, including six of the top seven scorers.  Illinois State was the unanimous choice to win the 2008-09 regular-season crown.  The Braves were five points behind Indiana State for seventh place. 

2008-09 MVC Preseason Poll

Rank Team (First-Place Votes)         Points

1.       Illinois State (40)                               400

2.       Creighton                                          310

3.       Drake                                               297

4.       Evansville                                         251

5.       Northern Iowa                                  245

6.       Missouri State                                   215

7.       Indiana State                                     166

8.       BRADLEY                                        161

9.       Southern Illinois                                108

10.     Wichita State                                        47

Returning Numbers

    Despite losing five letterwinners from last year's team, Bradley boasts one of the more experienced teams in the Missouri Valley Conference heading into the 2008-09 campaign.  The Braves return six of their top seven scorers from last year and are one of just three teams in the league which is returning over 70 percent of both its scoring and rebounding from the previous years.  The only other teams to join BU in that elite company are Northern Iowa and defending regular-season co-champion Illinois State.  The chart below takes a look at the returning numbers for all 10 league members.

Youth Movement

    While the Braves have a strong group of returning players, Bradley also has a lot of youth on its roster.  The Braves 16-player roster includes eight newcomers, the most newcomers to the team since welcoming nine new faces for the 2001-02 season when Bradley finished 16-12 overall.  This year's newcomers include seven freshmen and one sophomore, giving the Braves 10 underclassmen.  Northern Iowa is the only other team in The Valley that can match Bradley's 10 underclassmen and Southern Illinois and Indiana State are the only MVC school's to welcome eight newcomers for the 2008-09 season.  Bradley is the only team in the conference to welcome more than six newcomers, while returning eight letterwinners from last year.  The Braves' 16-player roster is the largest for the program since the 1997-98 campaign. 

Home Sweet Home

    Bradley will play its home games at several different venues during the 2008-09 since Robertson Memorial Field House was razed in May to make room for a new facility which is currently under construction and schedule for completion during the 2009-10 school year.  The Braves closed out Robertson Field House with a 79-63 victory against Northern Iowa in the 2007-008 regular-season finale and won four of the last five games on the historic raised floor to finish with a 209-170 (.551) all-time record at the facility.  Bradley will play the bulk of its games in 2008-09 at Illinois Central College's Lorene Ramsey Gym.  Bradley played an exhibition game against Truman State at Carver Arena and will play the Dec. 28 game against Air Force at Richwoods High School.

Freshmen Make Big Impact

    Sophomores Raisa Taylor and Sonya Harris had big impacts during their freshmen seasons.  Taylor averaged 6.6 points per game off the bench and led the team in free throws made and attempted, while Harris averaged 7.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in addition to leading the team in blocked shots (34) and field goal percentage (.555).  Taylor's 62 free throws made were the most by a Bradley freshman since Sarah Sommer made 66 ion 1999-2000 and ranks as the fifth best total by a BU freshman.  Harris was named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week twice last year and her 34 blocked shots are the most by a BU freshman since Dena Williams turned back 52 shots as a freshman in 2001-02.  After both had slow starts to the year, Taylor averaged 10.4 points and shot 43 percent from the field over the final 13 games of the season, while Harris scored 10.2 per game on 57.6 percent shooting in addition to 8.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game over that same stretch. 

Getting Defensive

    Sophomore Skye Johnson became the first Bradley women's basketball player to earn Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading the league with 82 steals.  The junior also blocked 17 shots to rank second on the team.  Johnson's 82 steals is the second-best season total in program history, behind Kathy Stokes school record 86 thefts in 1979-80.  Johnson is the first Bradley player to lead The Valley in steals in a season and helped the Braves to a league-best 10.8 steals per game.  BU's 324 steals were the most in program history since swiping 365 steals in 1983-84.

STEALS IN A SEASON (INDIVIDUAL)

STEALS IN A SEASON (TEAM)

Krumwiede Joins 600-500 Club

    Senior forward Kelly Krumwiede is the 14th player in program history to collect 600 points and 500 rebounds in a Bradley uniform, pulling down her 500th career rebound at Evansville last March.  The 36th player in school history to score 600 points, Krumwiede is the Braves active career scoring leader with 650 points and also ranks as the active career leader in rebounding with 530 career boards.  She needs 50 points and 70 rebounds to become just the 10th player with 700 points and 600 rebounds in a career and is just 42 boards short of cracking BU's career top 10.

REBOUNDS (CAREER)

Buscher Nears 100 Wins At BU

    Ninth-year Bradley head coach Paula Buscher is closing in on 100 career wins at BU, needing just three victories to become the second head coach in program history to reach the 100-win mark.  Buscher is 97-132 (.424) at Bradley and is second only to Lisa Boyer on the Braves career wins list.  Boyer was 124-149 (.454) as Bradley head coach from 1986-87 through the 1995-96 season.  Buscher's 100th win at Bradley will also mark the 400th win in program history. 

BRADLEY CAREER COACHING VICTORIES

Keeping Up With The Braves

    In addition to being the primary source for updated information, stats and notes for the Bradley women's basketball team, the Bradley athletics website (www.bradleybraves.com) will also feature a women's basketball blog throughout the 2008-09 season.  Junior forward Jenny Van Kirk started her blog during the Braves first week of practice and will continue to update her blog during the regular-season.  Questions for Jenny to answer in the blog can be emailed to jrea@bradley.edu

Team Captains

    Junior forward Jenny Van Kirk and freshman Hanna Muegge have been voted team captains for the 2008-09 season. 

Braves On The Internet

                Bradley women's basketball fans can catch all of this year's home and away games via the internet at www.bradleybraves.com  Free audio will be available for each game in addition to a pay-per-view video stream for all home games and some road contests.