For Starters
Bradley (2-3 overall) will try to even its record when the Braves open a brief two-game homestand Saturday against Sun Belt Conference West Division preseason favorite Arkansas-Little Rock.
Saturday's game will be played at Woodruff High School in Peoria, Ill., due to a scheduling conflict at Illinois Central College with free admission. The Braves ended a two-game losing skid with an 83-68 victory at UNLV Sunday.
UALR is also trying to even its record and will be trying to end a three-game losing streak after falling to Mississippi 70-51 Wednesday at home. The Trojans are 1-1 on the road this. UALR is 3-4 overall on the year, but the four teams the Trojans have suffered losses to own a combined 19-5 (.792) record through Wednesday night.
About UALR
A very experienced team, UALR retruned 10 of 12 letterwinners, including all five starters from last year's team which advanced to the WNIT and finished the year with a 26-7 record. The Trojans are the preseason favorite to win the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference after going 16-2 in league play last season.
Junior forward Chastity Reed ranked eighth in the nation in scoring through games of Nov. 29 with a scoring average 23.5 points per game and currently leads the team with averages of 23.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
Senior guard Kim Sitzmann is adding 8.3 points per contest and dishes out 3.57 per outing
Junior guard Asriel Rolfe leads the squad in three-point shooting (1.3 makes per game & 34.6 3FG%). Rolfe is scoring 7.0 points per game and boasts a 3.71 assist-to-turnover ratio.
While UALR averages only 58.7 points per game, the Trojans have consistently ranked as one of the top defensive teams in the country. Last season, UALR was third in the country in scoring defense (52.8 ppg) and give up an average of just 57.4 per game this season. The Trojans also do a good job of holding on to the ball, committing an average of just 14.7 turnovers per game and outrebounding opponents by +2.4 per tilt.
About Bradley
A year removed from featuring one of the most experienced rosters in the Missouri Valley Conference, youth is prevalent on the 2009-10 roster for the Bradley Women's Basketball.
Despite returning five of its top eight scorers from 2008-09 and one of the top inside threats in The Valley, the Braves roster features just two seniors and a total of four upperclassmen (two juniors) to go along with six sophomores and three freshmen.
Headlining a group which represents 50 percent of last year's scoring and 56 percent of the rebounding is junior forward Sonya Harris. A game-changer on both ends of the floor, Harris averaged 9.3 points per game and was third in the MVC in rebounding at 8.5 boards per game as a sophomore in 2008-09. She earned Second-Team All-MVC honors after posting a league-leading and school-season record 79 blocked shots and was second on the team in steals with 36, while garnering MVC All-Defensive Team honors. This season, she is averaging 10.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots per game on the young season after reaching double figures in rebounds in each of the first four games.
Freshman Katie Yohn has led the team in scoring in three of her first five games and has started each of the last four contests. A versatile player with the ability to shoot from the outside or penetrate, she is averaging a team-best 12.6 points and 2.4 assists per game.
Fellow freshman Olivia Allen has come off the bench in each of the first five games and is averaging 9.0 points per game.
Morton, Ill., native Brooke Bisping is coming off a 17-point, six-rebound, five-assist effort against UNLV in her first career start and is averaging 7.6 points while shooting 46.2 percent from three-point range on the year.
Bradley picked up where it left off last year, outrebounding fourof the first five opponents on the schedule by an average margin of +4.40. The Braves have averaged 69.2 points per game, but have surrendered an average of 73.0 points and are shooting just 59.2 percent from the free throw line.
The Coaches
The dean of Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball coaches, Paula Buscher (Missouri State, '86) is in her 10th year at Bradley and has a record of 119-145 (.451) at BU. Buscher led teams to improved records in each of her first five seasons as a collegiate head coach and 10 of her 13 seasons overall culminating in last year's 21-10 season. The 2008-09 Rawlings Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Buscher owns a 162-183 (.470) career record and is in her 13th year as a collegiate head coach. She is the second winningest coach in school history with 118 wins and needs just six wins to pass Lisa Boyer. Last season she led Bradley to a school-record 21 victories (21-10 overall) and best conference finish (11-7 MVC; 4th place) since tying for third in 1991-92. A longtime assistant coach at Nebraska-Omaha, Buscher coached Minnesota St.-Mankato during the 1997-98 season and returned to UNO as head coach for the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons, before coming to The Hilltop.
Joe Foley (Central Arkansas '79) is in his seventh season as head coach at UALR and 22nd overall as a collegiate head coach. He has led the Trojans to a 106-81 (.567) record in his six-plus seasons and owns a career coaching mark of 562-162 (.776). He led UALR to a 26-7 record last season. UALR is a combined 73-30 (.709) since the start of the 2006-07 season with three straight 20-win seasons and back-to-back WNIT appearances.
UALR Series
Bradley returns home for a two-game homestand beginning with a Dec. 5 home game against WNIT participant and preseason Sun Belt Conference West Division favorite Arkansas-Little Rock. The Braves are facing UALR for just the second time, after the Trojans topped BU 65-40 in the only other meeting on Dec. 1, 2007 in Little Rock, Ark. The game against the Trojans will be played at Woodruff High School.
Last Week
Bradley finished third at the UNLV Lady Rebel Round-Up, going 1-1 in tournament play. The Braves fell to Washington State in the opening round (80-66) in BU's first game against a Pac-10 team since 1996-97, and rebounded with an 83-66 victory against tournament-host UNLV. Freshman Katie Yohn scored 20 first-half points in the win against the Rebels and finished with a game-high 25 points. Fellow freshman Brooke Bisping averaged 15.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in the two games.
From Long Range
Freshman Katie Yohn knocked down 6-of-9 three-point attempts Sunday at UNLV and fellow freshman Brooke Bisping was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc as the duo helped Bradley hit a season-high 11 three-pointers against the Rebels. BU's 11 trey's is tied for the fifth best total in school history and is the most by the Braves since hitting 11 three-pointers at Missouri State on Jan. 21, 2007. Yohn's six three-pointers is tied for the 10th-best single-game effort in school history. Bradley entered the game against UNLV shooting 29.6 percent from three-point range and was 12-for-45 (26.7 percent) from beyond the arc in the two previous games, before connecting on 11-of-21 trey's (52.4 percent) vs. the Rebels.
Rebounding Streak Ends
Washington State outrebounded the Braves 46-39 in BU's first game at the Lady Rebel Round-Up, ending a streak of 14 consecutive non-conference games in which Bradley outrebounded the opposition. The Braves had played 18 consecutive non-conference games since an opponent held an edge on the boards (Bradley matched UC Davis in rebounding 32-32 in the final non-conference game of the season in 2007-08). The last non-conference foe to outrebound Bradley prior to Washington State was this week's opponent UALR on Dec. 1, 2007.
The Young And The Restless
Through five games, Bradley has had four different players lead the squad in scoring. All three freshmen have paced the Braves in scoring at least once and frosh Katie Yohn is the only player on the roster to lead the team in scoring more than once. Three of Bradley's top four scorers are freshmen, led by Yohn's team-best 12.6 scoring average. Olivia Allen is adding 9.0 points per game and fellow frosh averaged 15.5 points per game last week to push her season average to 7.6 points per outing.
Pounding The Boards
After having a 14-game streak of outrebounding opponents in non-conference games snapped Saturday against Washington State, Bradley pounded the glass in the next outing against UNLV. The Braves held a 48-27 edge on the glass against the Rebels, marking BU's biggest advantage on the boards since owning a +24 advantage at Eastern Illinois on Nov. 20, 2001. Bradley is averaging a league-best 43.8 rebounds per game.
High Scoring Freshman
Freshman Katie Yohn scored a team-best 25 points to help lead Bradley to a victory at UNLV. Yohn's 25 points is the most scored by a BU freshman since Raisa Taylor had 28 at Southern Illinois on Feb. 28, 2008 and is the second most points contributed by a freshman under head coach Paula Buscher. Judy Burns scored 25 or more points twice as a freshman in 1981-82. Since Burns freshman season, only five different BU freshman have scored 25 or more points in a game as a freshman
Lund Takes Leave
Sophomore guard Michelle Lund has taken a leave of absence from the team citing personal reasons. Lund missed the Braves first exhibition game with the flu and sat out the season opener at Northern Illinois, before returning to the lineup and averaging 6.0 points per game in two appearances.
Buscher Nearing School Wins Record
Head coach Paula Buscher is in her 10th season on The Hilltop and needs just five victories to pass Lisa Boyer as the winningest coach in program history. The 2008-09 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Buscher owns a 119-145 (.451) record at Bradley and led the Braves to a school-record 21 victories (21-10 overall) last year. Boyer was 123-150 (.451) as Bradley head coach from 1986-87 through the 1995-96 season. Buscher will match Boyer as the longest tenured coach in program history following the 2009-10 campaign and the duo has combined for 242 of Bradley's 418 all-time wins (58 percent).
Regular-Season Tournaments
Bradley is 10-10 in regular-season tournaments under head coach Paula Buscher and has finished second or better in five of the 10 tournaments during her tenure after claiming the tournament title at last season's Northern Arizona Thanksgiving Classic in Flagstaff, Ariz. The Braves are 25-26 during regular-season tournaments since the start of 1985-86 season, including a 20-16 mark since 1993-94. Bradley has finished second or better in eight of 18 regular-season tournaments since the beginning of 1993-94 campaign.
Road Warriors
The Braves concluded a three-game road swing Sunday with an 83-68 victory at UNLV and return home for a brief two-game homestand. The two-game homestand comes in the middle of a stretch in which Bradley will play eight of 10 games away from home. Tuesday's home game against Missouri will be the final non-conference game of the season and last home contest on the schedule until BU's Jan. 7 Missouri Valley Conference home opener against Evansville on Jan. 7.
In-State Opponents
Bradley opened the season with three consecutive games against in-state opponents, marking the second consecutive year the Braves started a season with three in-state foes. BU is 26-16 (.619) against in-state non-conference opponents under 10th-year head coach Paula Buscher, including a 10-4 (.714) mark since the start of the 2007-08 season.
Yohn Named MVC Newcomer of the Week
Freshman Katie Yohn was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week for the week of Nov. 16 after scoring in double figures in each of her first two games. She led the Braves in scoring in the first outing of her career, finishing with 16 points and a game-high five assists off the bench in the season opener at Northern Illinois. Yohn made her first career start Sunday against Illinois-Chicago and responded by making 6-of-10 shots. In addition to dishing out a game-high five assists, she contributed 13 points, five rebounds, one block and one steal as she helped the Braves to a 79-64 win against the Flames. Yohn averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists over her first two games and is the first Bradley freshman to score in double figures in her first two games since Judy Burns in 1981-82.
Double Trouble
Junior Sonya Harris opened the season with back-to-back double-doubles, pushing her career total to 16. Harris, who had eight double-doubles last year as a sophomore, is sixth in school history with her 16 career double-doubles. She has the most double-doubles by a Bradley player since Dena Williams collected 19 from 2001-05. Harris nearly averaged a double-double in Missouri Valley Conference play in 2008-09, scoring 9.7 points per game while grabbing 10.1 boards per contest and is contributing 10.2 points and a Missouri Valley Conference best 10.8 rebounds per game this season.
Strong Debuts
Freshmen guards Katie Yohn and Olivia Allen both reached double figures in scoring in each of their first two games. Just the ninth and 10th freshman in school history to score 10 or more points in their debut, they joined Judy Burns as the only players to score in double figures in each of their first two outings as a Brave. Burns accomplished the feat during the 1981-82 season. Yohn leads the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game after tossing in a game-high 25 points at UNLV Sunday, while Allen is third on the team in scoring at 9.0 points per game.
Yohn's 16 points in the season opener against NIU ranks as the third best scoring output by a freshman in their first game and Allen's 15 points vs. the Huskies is the fourth-highest point-total in a debut since 1981-82. Below is a chart detailing the top-10 scoring efforts by Bradley freshman in their debuts.
Cleaning The Glass
Junior Sonya Harris is one of the top returning rebounders in the Missouri Valley Conference and she picked up where she left off in 2008-09, pulling down a league-best 10.8 boards per game this season. She has reached double digits in rebounds in 22 games in her two-plus seasons, including four of five games to open the 2009-10 slate. The Bradley career mark for 10+-rebounding efforts is 32 by Dena Williams. Harris had 12 outings with or more boards in 2008-09 and averaged better than 10 rebounds per game in Missouri Valley Conference play last year.
Home Openers
Bradley improved to 25-10 in home openers with a 79-64 win against Illinois-Chicago (Nov. 15). The Braves are 7-3 record in home openers under head coach Paula Buscher. BU boasts a 15-2 record when facing an in-state opponent in the home opener.
Non-Conference Streaks
Bradley pushed its non-conference home win streak to 10 games with a 79-64 victory against Illinois-Chicago (Nov. 15) in the home opener. The 10-game non-conference home win streak is the longest since Bradley joined the Gateway Conference for the 1983-84 season. In addition, Bradley also has won eight consecutive home games against in-state non-conference opponents. The Braves are 28-11 (.718) at home against non-conference opponents under head coach Paula Buscher.
Home Away From Home
The Braves will once again call Illinois Central College's Lorene Ramsey Gym home as construction of a new on-campus facility continues and will be completed this spring. The Braves boasted an 11-2 record at Lorene Ramsey Gym last year and finished the season with a 12-2 home mark, including an 81-65 win against Air Force which was played at Richwoods High School. Bradley tied a school record with 12 home wins last season and the 12-2 home mark is the second-best home winning percentage in school history behind the 1979-80 squad's 10-1 home record. The Braves are an impressive 12-2 (.857) at Lorene Ramsey Gym including this season's earlier win against Illinois-Chicago.
Up Next
Bradley closes out a two-game homestand Tuesday with a 7:05 p.m. game against Big 12 Conference foe Missouri. Tiger's head coach Cindy Stein is a former Bradley assistant coach and high school teammate of BU head coach Paula Buscher at Richwoods. Stein also played basketball at Illinois Central College for legendary head coach Lorene Ramsey. Mizzou holds a 7-2 edge in the all-time series after posting an 83-54 victory against the Braves in Columbia, Mo., last season. The Tigers have won five consecutive meetings in the series dating back to an 83-78 BU win on Nov. 27, 1994. Missouri is 3-1 all-time in games played in Peoria, which includes back-to-back wins since an 84-75 Bradley victory on Nov. 28, 1993.
Bradley Picked Sixth In MVC Poll
Bradley was picked to finish sixth in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll. The sixth-place selection is the highest the Braves have been picked since they were selected to finish sixth in 2002-03. Bradley has finished higher than its predicted finish in each of the last three years and seven of the last nine years under head coach Paula Buscher. The Braves were 36 points behind fifth-place Indiana State and 26 points ahead of seventh-place Missouri State.
Youth Movement
Bradley once again features one of the youngest rosters in the Missouri Valley Conference, featuring just two seniors and a total of four upperclassmen. For the second consecutive year, the Braves roster includes 10 underclassmen (three freshmen and seven sophomores). Bradley is not the only team in The Valley relying on youth as six of the 10 teams have nine underclassmen or more on their rosters. Indiana State, Missouri State and Northern Iowa join Bradley with 10 underclassmen, while Drake and Evansville each boast nine underclassmen.
Braves Break School Record For Wins In 08-09
Bradley is coming off arguably its most successful season since joining the Missouri Valley Conference, after posting a 21-10 record in 2008-09. The 21 victories were a school record and the Braves finished with just the second 20-win season in program history. Bradley's only other 20-win season came in 1979-80, when the Braves posted a 20-9 overall mark. Bradley's 21 victories last year were the most since playing a full NCAA Division I schedule. In addition, the Braves' 11 Missouri Valley Conference wins were the most since finishing 1991-92 with an 11-7 conference mark.
What's Back
Bradley returns 10 of 14 letterwinners, including three starters from last year's team which finished with a school-record 21 victories. The Braves, which feature six of the top eight scorers and three of the top four rebounders from 2008-09, have three returning players that averaged 8.8 points per game or better. Junior forward Sonya Harris was a Second-Team All-MVC selection after averaging 9.3 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds per game. Harris led The Valley in blocked shots and was third in rebounding in the league, while capturing MVC All-Defensive Team honors in 2008-09. Junior forward Raisa Taylor started 12 games and averaged 8.8 points per contest.
Home, Sweet Home
Despite not having a true home court to call its own last season, Bradley finished the year with the second most home wins in the Missouri Valley Conference and tied the school-record for home victories. The Braves played 13 of 14 home dates in 2008-09 at Illinois Central College's Lorene Ramsey Gym in East Peoria, Ill., while construction of a new on-campus facility began. Bradley went 12-2 (.857) in those 14 games, tying a school-season record for home wins (1981-82 - 12-4) and posting the second-best home winning percentage in program history. The 1979-80 squad, which is the only other 20-win team in program history, boasted a 10-1 (.909) home mark. Bradley will call Lorene Ramsey Gym for 11 of 12 home games this season. The Dec. 5 home against Arkansas-Little Rock will be played at Woodruff High School.
Feeling Rejected
Junior Sonya Harris is poised to climb a few spots on the Missouri Valley Conference blocked shots list. Harris enters this week's action 15th in Valley history with 127 rejections and needs four blocks to move up two spots into 13th place. She is tied for first in the MVC this season in blocked shots, averaging 2.8 per game through the first five games of the season. Last season, Harris had a school-record 79 blocks and averaged 2.7 per tilt as a sophomore. Harris is third in school history behind Dena Williams (197) and Heather Best (153).
Braves Reach MVC Semifinals
For just the second-time in school history and first since the 1996-97 campaign, Bradley advanced to the semifinals of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals with a 70-49 victory against Indiana State in last year's quarterfinals. The Braves were upset by eventual MVC Tournament champion and #9 seed Evansville 84-81 in overtime in the semifinals in 2008-09. Bradley also was an upset victim in its only other semifinal appearance during the 1997 conference tournament in Springfield, Mo. The #6 seeded Braves knocked off #3 seed Missouri State 53-52 in the team's first-ever MVC Tournament victory, before falling to #7 seed Wichita State 74-67 in the semifinals during the 1997 event.
Buscher Named MVC Coach Of The Year
Bradley head coach Paula Buscher was selected as the 2008-09 Rawlings Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year after leading Bradley to its first 20-win season in almost 30 years and best conference finish in nearly two decades. Buscher earned the honor for the first time in her career and joined Lisa Boyer as the only coaches in school history to earn the award. Buscher led the Braves to the most wins in program history (21) and first appearance in the MVC Tournament semifinals since 1997. Bradley was 11-7 in the Valley, marking the Braves best conference record since 1991-92.
Braves Have Best Valley Season Since 1991-92
Bradley finished the 2008-09 MVC regular-season slate with an 11-7, marking the best record for the Braves since tying for third place during the 1991-92 season with an identical 11-7 mark. The 11 conference wins is tied for the second most in program history, behind the 1989-90 squad's 12-6 league record. The top four finish was the fifth in program history and first since 1991-92. Below is chart detailing each winning conference mark in program history.
Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
Senior forward Jenny Van Kirk is one of 30 national candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as a NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - classroom, character, community and competition. Van Kirk joins former teammate Kelly Krumwiede as national candidates for the award. Van Kirk owns a 4.0 cumulative grade point average and was a second-team MVC Scholar-Athlete last year. She also was a Second-Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V selection in addition to earning Division I-AAA Athletic Director's Scholar-Athlete honors.
On The Rebound
Junior Sonya Harris ranked third in the Missouri Valley Conference in rebounding last year, pulling down an average of 8.5 boards per game. Her 247 rebounds last season was the best season total by a Bradley player since Carrie Coffman had a school-record 302 boards in 1994-95 and is the most rebounds by an underclassmen in program history. In fact, Harris' 247 rebounds ranks as the sixth best season total in school history. She is the Braves active career rebounding leader with 438 career boards.
Schedule Notes
Bradley will play just three home non-conference games, marking the fewest home games for the Braves since playing a total of 12 home games during the 2003-04 slate. The Braves will make two trips out west with the first scheduled for Nov. 28 & 29 for the Lady Rebel Round-Up in Las Vegas, Nev. The trip to Nevada will be the first in program history. Bradley played six in-state non-conference opponents in 2008-09, but will face just three in 2009-10. Bradley will play a PAC-10 Conference school for the first time since 1996-97 when the Braves face Washington State, Nov. 28 in Las Vegas. Peoria, Ill., native and former high school teammate of Paula Buscher, Cindy Stein and her Missouri Tigers will visit Lorene Ramsey Gym on Dec. 8. Stein and Buscher both played basketball at Illinois Central College for legendary coach Lorene Ramsey before finishing out their collegiate careers at Illinois and Missouri State, respectively. The Braves open a season-long five-game road swing with a pair of games in Colorado. The trip to Colorado is the first since 2000-01 and the five-game road swing is the first for Bradley since the 1993-94 season.
