GREELEY, Colo. - Bradley trailed by as many as 20 points in the second half, before freshman Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) and sophomore Leah Kassing (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) helped key a 16-3 run, but the Braves scored just four points in the final 3:48 of play as the Bears held on for a 75-58 victory Thursday.

Both teams got off to slow starts offensively with Bradley (2-6 overall) making just 4-of-16 from the field to open the game.  Despite the offensive struggles, Bradley managed to stay within striking distance and trailed 14-10 just 12 minutes into the contest. 

Northern Colorado (5-5 overall) used a 7-2 spurt to extend the lead to 21-12 with 6:18 left in the first half and the Bears pushed the lead to as many as 12 points (32-21) in the final minute of the period.

The Braves outrebounded Northern Colorado 25-12 in the opening half, but committed 14 turnovers and the Bears capitalized on the BU miscues to post a 12-5 edge in points off turnovers.  Bradley made 5-of-11 shots to close the half, while Northern Colorado shot 46.2 percent in the first half.

Sophomore guard Lauren Niemiera (Orland Park, Ill./Marist) capped a 9-0 BU run with a three-pointer and a base-line jumper as the Braves scored the first nine points of the second half to pull to within 32-30. 

The Bears answered with a 26-8 run to push the lead to 58-38 with just under seven minutes to play.  After scoring 38 points in the first 33 minutes of the game, Bradley would heat up and score 16 points in the next three minutes to claw back into the game.

Kassing (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) opened a 16-3 spurt with a three-point play.  Yohn followed with a three-pointer and sophomore MacKenzie Westcott (Williamsburg, Iowa/Williamsburg) added a three-point play of her own as the Braves trimmed the deficit to 12 points in just 80 seconds.

Kassing hit a jumper and Yohn answered a Northern Colorado bucket with another trey trimming the lead to 61-52.  Freshman Brooke Bisping's (Morton, Ill./Morton) breakaway layup capped the run which took less than three minutes and pulled Bradley to within 61-54 with just under four minutes remaining.  Bradley would get no closer, however, as Northern Colorado scored on six of its last seven possessions in the final four minutes to hold off the Braves 75-58.

Kassing led Bradley in scoring with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting off the bench.  Bradley's reserves combined for 40 of the team's 58 points and BU held a 13-11 edge in second chance points despite pulling down eight more offensive boards than the Bears.

Whitley Cox led Northern Colorado with 23 points and was one of three players in double figures.  Courtney Stoermer and Victoria Timm added 12 points each. 

Bradley continues its season-long five-game road swing Saturday with a 3:05 p.m. (CST) game at Air Force.