PEORIA, Ill. -- Three Bradley players turned in double-doubles and five Braves reached double figures in scoring as the Bradley women's basketball team wrapped up the non-conference portion of its schedule with an 81-65 victory over visiting Air Force at Richwoods High School Sunday.
The Braves (9-2 overall) were without leading scorer and rebounder Monica Rogers (Forsyth, Ill./St. Teresa/Hampton), who missed the game with an injury, but did not skip a beat down low as BU outrebounded Air Force (3-8 overall) 38-29 and the starting front court players combined for 32 points and 24 rebounds.
BU made 5-of-6 shots from the field to open the game to jump out to a 12-4 lead. Onarga, Ill., native Brook Cultra helped swing momentum in favor of the Falcons by scoring the next 11 Air Force points to highlight a 14-2 Falcons' run which put Air Force in front 18-14.
Sophomore Raisa Taylor (Decatur, Ill./Eisenhower) scored 11 points during a 5:15 span during a 15-3 BU run which put the Braves back in front 31-22. Bradley held Air Force to just two field goals and a total of eight points in the final 9:53 of the half as the Braves took a 42-29 lead into the break.
Bradley pushed its lead to as many as 19 points midway through the second half, before Air Force was able to whittle the Braves advantage to 10 points with just over eight minutes remaining. Freshman guard Michelle Lund (Sioux City, Iowa/Bishop Heelan) helped put the game out of reach with three three-pointers and a blocked shot during a two minute span as Bradley extended its lead back to 16 points (70-54) with just under four minutes left on the clock. The Braves made 7-of-8 free throws in the final 88 seconds of the game to close out the 81-65 victory.
Bradley shot 46.8 percent from the field and committed a season-low 16 turnovers. Sophomore Sonya Harris (Riverdale, Ill./Thornton) and junior Jenny Van Kirk (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) tied for team high honors with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Van Kirk's 16 points and 10 rebounds were both season highs as the junior co-captain turned in her first career double-double. Harris hit 7-of-9 from the field in 21 minutes of play.
Junior guard Skye Johnson also recorded her first career double-double, tallying a career-best 10 assists to while tying a season-high with 15 points. Johnson also collected four steals as the Braves finished with 13 steals and held a 21-10 edge in points off the turnovers. Lund added 14 points, three assists, two blocks and three steals as she nailed 4-of-7 three-point attempts. Taylor was also in double figures with 11 points, helping Bradley's reserves outscore the Air Force bench by a 20-4 margin.
Cultra tied for game-high honors with 23 points on 10-of-21 shooting to lead Air Force. She also tied for the team lead with eight rebounds. Raimee Beck hit 5-of-9 from beyond the arc and matched Cultra's game-high 23 points. Salem, Ill., native Kim Kreke chipped in with 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals for the Falcons.
Bradley returns to action Friday when the Braves open Missouri Valley Conference play with a 7:05 p.m. game at Wichita State.
