PEORIA, Ill. ? A trip to Chicago to face Illinois at the United Center, a road game at Missouri and a Thanksgiving weekend tournament in Flagstaff, Ariz., highlight the 2008-09 Bradley women's basketball coach announced Monday by ninth-year head coach Paula Buscher.
The Braves will play the bulk of their home games at Illinois Central College's Lorene Ramsey Gym during the 2008-09 season, but will play a Nov. 9 exhibition game against Truman State at Carver Arena and will face Air Force at Richwoods High School in a 5:05 p.m. contest on Sunday, Dec. 28. Bradley's first exhibition game is slated for Nov. 2 against Lewis at Illinois Central College, with the final exhibition game against Truman State (Nov. 9) kicking off a men's and women's doubleheader at Carver Arena on Nov. 9.
Bradley will open the season with three of four games at home, with the season-opener scheduled for Nov. 15 against Loyola at Illinois Central College. The Braves will be opening the season against an in-state opponent for the fourth consecutive year. Bradley and Loyola will be meeting for the eighth consecutive year and the game will mark the first time the two squads have opened a season against each other since the 1993-94 campaign.
Eastern Illinois will visit Illinois Central College on Nov. 19. It will mark the 33rd meeting in the all-time series, but just the fifth meeting since the two teams were both members of the Gateway Conference.
Bradley's first road game of the season will be the first of two trips to Chicago, when the Braves take on Illinois-Chicago Nov. 22 at the UIC Pavilion. The Braves have won six of the last seven meetings and hold a 12-3 edge in the all-time series.
A season-opening stretch of four consecutive games against in-state opponents comes to an end when Northern Illinois takes on the Braves at Illinois Central College on Nov. 25. Bradley will be looking to avenge a five-point season-opening loss to the Huskies last year and this year's contest will mark just the 10th all-time meeting between the two programs.
The Braves will take part in a Thanksgiving weekend tournament hosted by Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Ariz. Bradley, which is making the second trip in program history to the Grand Canyon State, will face tournament-host Northern Arizona (Nov. 29) and UC Riverside (Nov. 30) during tournament play. The Braves have never faced Northern Arizona and are 2-1 against current members of the Big Sky Conference with the last meeting coming Nov. 22, 1998 when Weber State visited Peoria. Bradley is 3-1 all-time against Big West Conference members after last years 79-70 home win against UC Davis.
A season-long four-game road swing continues Dec. 6 when Bradley faces Big Ten Conference foe Illinois at the United Center in Chicago. The game will be the first neutral site meeting with the Illini, which advanced to the WNIT last season. The road swing ends Dec. 9 with a road game at Big 12 Conference member Missouri. Bradley head coach Paula Buscher and Missouri coach Cindy Stein renew their rivalry in the third meeting between the two as head coach at their respective schools. Buscher and Stein were teammates at Richwoods High School.
The Braves return home to face NCAA Division I newcomer SIU-Edwardsville, which is in its first year at the Division I level. The two teams have faced each other in exhibition games in recent years, but will be meeting in the regular-season for the first time since the 1982-83 season. Bradley holds a 10-1 lead in the all-time series, including a 7-0 mark at home.
The final road game of the non-conference schedule and last game before Christmas is a Dec. 22 contest at Toledo. The Braves evened the all-time series at 1-1 with a victory last year in Peoria. Buscher and the Braves will see a familiar face on the Rockets bench, as former Evansville head coach Tricia Cullop is in her first year at Toledo.
Bradley wraps up the non-conference schedule with a Dec. 28 home game against Air Force at Richwoods High School. The Braves have never faced the Falcons and will be playing a Mountain West Conference opponent for the first time since opening the 1998-99 season with a home game against then Western Athletic Conference member Utah.
BU opens Missouri Valley Conference play Jan. 2 at Wichita State. The Braves will face the Shockers in their conference opener for the first time since 1983-84 and will begin conference play on the road for the seventh time in the last nine years. Bradley will visit the new John Q. Hammons Arena when Bradley visits Missouri State for a Jan. 4 contest.
The Braves will host Southern Illinois on Friday, Jan. 9 (7:05 p.m.) and defending MVC regular-season tri-champion Evansville on Sunday, Jan. 11 at 2:05 p.m.
Bradley continues its stretch with five of seven games on the road to open Valley play with a Jan. 17 tilt at Northern Iowa. The Braves return to the state of Iowa the next week to face Drake (Jan. 23) and wrap up the heavy road schedule with a Jan. 25 contest at Creighton.
The Braves return home to face I-74 rival and NCAA Tournament participant Illinois State on Friday, Jan. 30 at Illinois Central College to open a stretch in which BU will play seven of the final 11 games at home. Indiana State visits for an afternoon tilt on Feb. 1, before Bradley travels to Carbondale, Ill., for a Feb. 5 game at Southern Illinois.
A Feb. 7 game at Evansville falls before the longest homestand of the season, which kicks off with a Feb. 14 game against Northern Iowa at Illinois Central College. WNIT participants Creighton (Feb. 19) and Drake (Feb. 21) both play at Illinois Central College to start a stretch of three consecutive games against teams that advanced to the postseason. The Braves make the return trip to face I-74 rival Illinois State on Thursday, Feb. 26 at Redbird Arena and wrap up the road portion of the schedule March 1 at Indiana State.
Bradley closes out the regular season with a pair of home games against Missouri State (March 5) and Wichita State (March 7), before traveling to St. Charles, Mo., for the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament (March 12-15).
The Braves return eight of 13 letterwinners, including three starters from last year's squad. Junior guard Skye Johnson (Olympia Fields, Ill./Marian) was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league in steals and headlines a group which features six of the top seven scorers from 2007-08.
For ticket information, please contact the Bradley Athletics Ticket Office at (309) 677-2625.
