Box Score ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Sophomore Hanna Muegge (Hopkins, Minn./Hopkins) made her first career start and made three free throws in the final 22 seconds to help seal a 72-66 victory Tuesday at Saint Louis in the final non-conference contest of the season. The Braves finished the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 4-6 record.
In a game of runs, Bradley made the last push of the contest and was able to hold off a late rally attempt by the Billikens (5-8 overall). The lead changed hands a total of six times and the score was tied 10 times before the Braves' late push.
Bradley trailed 46-42 with 14:24 left in the second half, when senior Renee Frericks (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake) highlighted a 15-1 BU run with six points and an assist. Frericks capped the spurt with an NBA-range three-pointer which gave the Braves a 57-47 advantage midway through the half.
Saint Louis would rally, however, as Bradley went scoreless for a near 6:30 stretch. The Billikens answered with 13 consecutive points to take a 60-57 lead with 4:07 remaining. Frericks ended BU's drought with her fourth three-pointer of the game to knot the game at 60-60.
Junior Raisa Taylor (Decatur, Ill./Eisenhower) answered a pair of Saint Louis free throws with a layup and senior Jenny Van Kirk (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) put the Braves ahead for good with a jumper from the free throw line with 1:50 to play.
Bradley pushed the lead to 67-62 with 41 seconds on the clock, before Saint Louis would make one more push. Katie Paganelli made a pair of free throws and SLU's Lauren Woods trimmed the BU lead to 67-66 with two free throws following a Braves turnover.
Attempting her first free throws of the season, Muegge made a pair from the charity stripe with 22 seconds left. Muegge grabbed a defensive board following a Saint Louis miss and split a pair of free throws with under 10 seconds to play to push BU's lead to 70-66. The Billikens missed a three-point attempt on the other end and Taylor added a pair of free throws in the closing seconds as Bradley held on for the 72-66 victory.
The win gives Bradley back-to-back victories for the first time this season and was the Braves third consecutive victory in the series with the Billikens.
Van Kirk and Taylor paced Bradley in scoring with season-highs of 15 points each. Van Kirk added a game-high eight rebounds and five assists, while Taylor finished with six boards, four assists and two steals. Frericks scored a season-best 12 points off the bench and tied for game-high honors with five assists. Junior Sonya Harris (Riverdale, Ill./Thornton) scored in double figures for the first time since Nov. 15, collecting 10 points, seven boards and two blocks.
Woods led Saint Louis with a career-high 23 points in 38 minutes of action and Paganelli scored a season-best 20 points. Amanda Kemezys came into the contest averaging a double-double (16.0 ppg) and 10.3 rpg), but Bradley limited her to just three points on 1-of-9 shooting and six boards.
Bradley will open Missouri Valley Conference play Thursday with a 1:05 p.m. game at Missouri State.
