Box Score EAST PEORIA, Ill. - Bradley scored the first 11 points of the game and never looked back as the Braves cruised to a 79-64 victory over Illinois-Chicago Sunday in BU's home opener at Lorene Ramsey Gym. Junior Sonya Harris (Riverdale, Ill./Thornton) turned in her second straight double-double and also had five blocks and a career-high three assists to help power the Braves to the win.
Junior Raisa Taylor (Decatur, Ill./Eisenhower) scored seven of the Braves (1-1 overall) first 11 points to help Bradley jump out to an 11-0 lead just 2:36 into the contest. UIC (0-2 overall) trimmed Bradley's lead to 17-10 with 12:30 left in the half, when freshman Brooke Bisping (Morton, Ill./Morton) spared a 12-0 BU run with a three-pointer and breakaway layup. Junior Renee Frericks (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake) knocked down a three-pointer and Harris capped the run with back-to-back layups to push the advantage to 29-10 midway through the first half.
Bradley made its four three-pointers of the game and finished the opening half 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. The Braves had just six first-half turnovers and built a 48-31 halftime lead. Harris collected 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks in the first half of play.
The lead was stretched to 20 points (57-37) in the opening minutes of the second half. Illinois-Chicago answered with a 12-4 spurt to trim Bradley's advantage to 61-49 with 11:16 to play, but that would be as close as the Flames would get as the Braves cruised to a 79-64 victory.
Harris finished the game 7-for-9 from the field and had game highs of 14 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots to go along with her career-best three assists. Freshman Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) made her first career start and responded with a 13-point outing. Yohn also dished out a game-high five assists. Fellow freshman Olivia Allen (Kildeer, Ill./Lake Zurich) was also in double figures for the second time in as many games as she added 11 points off the bench.
The trio of Harris, Yohn and Allen combined for 38 of Bradley's 79 points and went a combined 17-of-25 from the field. Bradley outrebounded the Flames 40-37 and shot 49.2 percent from the field. The Braves also made 14-of-17 free throw attempts (82.4) and outscored UIC 46-36 in the paint.
The Flames collected 12 blocked shots, but shot just 38.5 percent from the floor and went 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) from three-point range. Jasmine Bailey led UIC with team highs of 13 points and eight rebounds to go along with three blocks and three steals. Kiara Strickland added 11 points off the bench and Jessie Miller was also in double figures with 10 points.
Bradley returns to action Sunday at Big Ten Conference foe Illinois in a 1:05 p.m. game at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Ill.
