EAST PEORIA, Ill. ? Senior Monica Rogers (Forsyth, Ill./St. Teresa/Hampton) scored18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the second half to help the Braves erase an eight-point halftime deficit and edge Eastern Illinois 71-69 Wednesday at Lorene Ramsey Gym. The Braves improved to 2-0 with the victory, marking the best start for BU since opening the 2005-06 campaign with a 2-0 mark.

Eastern Illinois (1-2 overall), the preseason Ohio Valley Conference favorite, built an 11-point first-half lead behind Rachel Galligan's 18 points in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Panthers took a 37-29 lead into the locker room after shooting 48 percent in the first half.

Much like Bradley's season-opening victory against Loyola, the Braves would find their offense in the second half. BU connected on 15-of-29 shots from the field (51.7 percent), while committing just eight turnovers and out rebounded EIU 22-12 in the second half of play.

Eastern Illinois led 42-34 with 15:55 remaining when Bradley would make its move. Senior Kelly Krumwiede (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) opened a 10-1 BU spurt with a put-back basket and freshman Michelle Lund (Sioux City, Iowa/Bishop Heelan) followed an EIU turnover with a three-pointer. The teams traded free throws and Rogers scored for the first time in the second half with 13:35 remaining to pull Bradley to within 42-43. Krumwiede capped the run with a basket to put the Braves ahead 44-43.

Rogers would score 11 of Bradley's next 16 points to help the Braves to a 59-53 advantage with just over seven minutes remaining. Eastern Illinois trimmed the Braves lead to one point (64-63) before Lund connected on her third three-pointer of the half to push the lead back to four points (64-63) with two and a half minutes left on the clock. Rogers followed a Galligan basket with a three-point play to give BU a 70-65 advantage with 1:19 to play and the Braves held EIU to a pair of two-point baskets in the final 31 seconds to slip past the Panthers 71-69.

Rogers, who made all six of her field goal attempts in the second half, finished with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Lund knocked down 3-of-7 three-point attempts in the second half to finish with a season-best 16 points, while junior guard Skye Johnson (Olympia Fields, Ill./Marian Catholic) added nine points and a career-best nine assists.

The Braves dominated the glass for the second consecutive game, out rebounding Eastern Illinois 44-27. Bradley pulled down 22 offensive rebounds and owned a 21-10 edge in second chance points. Sophomore Sonya Harris (Riverdale, Ill./Thornton) helped lead BU's rebounding efforts, tying Rogers for game-high honors with 12 boards and also added four blocked shots.

Galligan paced Eastern Illinois with 28 points and nine rebounds, while making 10-of-17 from the floor. Megan Edwards and Ashley Thomas were both in double figures with 10 points each.

The Braves return to action Saturday when BU faces Illinois-Chicago at 2:05 p.m. at the UIC Pavilion. The game will be broadcast via the internet at www.bradleybraves.com and a free video stream will be available on the Horizon League website.