EAST PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley missed a chance to win the game in regulation and needed a little luck and a 25-foot three-pointer by junior guard Renee Frericks (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake) to force double overtime, but the Braves hit three consecutive trey's to open the period en route to an 87-80 victory over Drake in BU's annual Pink Zone game at Lorene Ramsey Gym Saturday. The Braves jumped ahead of Drake into third place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings, while improving to 19-6 overall and 10-4 in the MVC.
Bradley held a 32-26 lead at the half and built an 11-point advantage early in the second half, but Drake (16-10 overall, 10-5 MVC) outscored BU 27-8 over a near 11-minute span to take a 53-44 lead with 7:20 left in regulation. The Braves scored on five consecutive possessions to trim the Drake lead to 57-55 with 3:51 remaining in the second half.
After a Drake basket, sophomore Sonya Harris (Riverdale, Ill./Thornton) had a steal and a breakaway layup to cut the lead to two and freshman Michelle Lund (Sioux City, Iowa/Bishop Heelan) followed another Drake turnover with a three-pointer from the corner to give Bradley a 60-59 advantage with 2:25 left on the clock. Senior Monica Rogers (Forsyth, Ill./St. Teresa/Hampton) made a layup with 58.1 seconds remaining to give BU a 62-59 lead, but Drake's Kristin Turk answered with a three-pointer from the wing to tie the game at 62-62. Bradley had the final possession of regulation, but Lund's buzzer-beating attempt was short and the teams went to overtime knotted at 62-62.
The Braves led 68-66 midway through the overtime period after a Rogers basket, but another Turk three-pointer gave Drake a 69-68 lead. After Bradley came up empty on its next possession, Drake's Jordann Plummer hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Bulldogs ahead 72-68. Junior guard Skye Johnson (Olympia Fields, Ill./Marian Catholic) made a driving layup and made a free throw to complete a three-point play which pulled the Braves to within one point (72-71) with 1:23 remaining. Bradley was unable to score after forcing a Drake turnover and the Braves were forced to foul Plummer who made a pair of free throws with 11.8 seconds left to give Drake a three-point lead (74-71).
A BU turnover with 7.7 seconds remaining gave Drake a chance to escape with the win, but a pair of missed free throws by the Bulldogs' Amber Wollschlager with 6.6 seconds on the clock gave Bradley one last chance. With no time outs remaining junior Jenny Van Kirk (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) pulled down the board on the second missed free throw and Frericks knocked down a 25-foot buzzer beater to tie the game at 74-74 and force a second overtime period.
Frericks got Bradley off to a hot start in the second overtime, hitting back-to-back three-pointers on the Braves first two possessions. Lund followed up a Drake miss with another three-pointer to give Bradley an 83-74 lead with 3:40 left in the period. The Braves went scoreless the next 3:12 of the game and the Bulldogs answered with six consecutive points to trim Bradley's lead to 83-80 with 27.8 seconds left.
Johnson made a pair of free throws to push the Bradley lead to 85-80 and Van Kirk blocked a Drake shot attempt on the other end. Rogers added a pair of free throws with 15.6 seconds on the clock to seal the win for the Braves.
With Harris limited to just 16 minutes due to foul trouble, Rogers controlled the paint for the Braves and finished with game highs of 26 points and 16 rebounds to lead all players. Frericks hit 5-of-10 three-pointers, including three in the extra sessions, and finished with 17 points, while Lund scored all 11 of her points after halftime. Johnson dished out a career-best 13 assists, the most by a Bradley player since the 1996-97 season, and also had nine points, seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals to help lead the Braves.
Drake had five players score in double figures, paced by Turk's 17 points off the bench. Monique' Jones added 16 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and five steals, while Plummer finished with 15 points and six assists.
Bradley was 5-for-19 from beyond the three-point arc during regulation, but connected on 4-of-5 three-point attempts in the overtime periods. The Braves helped raise nearly $5,000 dollars for the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation as part of their annual Pink Zone game.
The Braves return to action Thursday with a 7:05 p.m. game at league-leading Illinois State at 7:05 p.m. The game will be televised in the Peoria area on WTVP Channel 47 and will also be broadcast on WMBD 1470 AM.
