PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley scored the first 11 points of the game and led by as many as 25 points in the second half en route to a 77-63 victory against Butler Saturday afternoon in the first regular-season contest at Renaissance Coliseum.  The game marked the Braves first on-campus regular-season game since Bradley closed out historic Robertson Memorial Field House's long run as the team's home with a 79-63 win against Northern Iowa on March 8, 2008.

Junior Leah Kassing (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) scored the first basket of the contest and helped the Braves score the first 11 points of the game.  Bradley (1-0 overall) limited Butler (0-1 overall) to five first-half field goals and 14.3 percent shooting in the opening half as the Braves pushed the lead to as many 20 points (34-14) and took a 34-16 lead into the break.

Senior Raisa Taylor (Decatur, Ill./Eisenhower) paced Bradley in the first half, scoring 11 of her 13 points in the opening 20 minutes on 4-of-6 shooting and also had six boards, one assist and two blocks at halftime. 

Kassing scored four points and junior Hanna Muegge (Hopkins, Minn./Hopkins) hit one of her two three-pointers during a 9-0 Braves run early in the second half to help Bradley extend the lead to 25 points (45-20) with 16 minutes to play.  Butler capitalized on Bradley turnovers down the stretch to pull within eight points with just under five minutes remaining.  Brittany Bowen highlighted a 20-6 Butler run with six points to help the Bulldogs close the gap.

Sophomore Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./York) opened a 9-3 Bradley run with a three-pointer and later added a jumper from the wing to push Bradley's lead back to double digits at 67-53 with 3:27 to play.  Yohn did not score in the first 14:49 of the second half, but tossed in 10 of her game-high 16 points in the final 5:11 of play to help close out the 77-63 win. 

Junior Latasha Hollingshed (Bellwood, Ill./St. Joseph/Illinois Central) was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line and scored 14 points off the bench.  Taylor finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks.  Junior MacKenzie Westctott (Williamsburg, Iowa/Williamsburg) dished out a career-high seven assists and also matched career-bests with 10 rebounds and three steals to go along with her seven points.

Bradley shot 51 percent from the field, which included a blistering 8-of-14 from three-point range (57.1 percent).  The Braves connected on 6-of-8 second-half three-pointers, but Butler scored 17 points in the second half off of Bradley turnovers and made 17-of-19 free throw attempts in the final 20 minutes.  Bradley limited Butler to 28.1 percent shooting and the Bulldogs managed just nine second-chance points despite 19 Butler offensive rebounds.

Chloe Hamilton paced the Bulldogs with 13 points, while Peoria, Ill., native Terra Burns had 11 points and team-highs of eight rebounds and four assists to lead Butler.  Brittany Bowen contributed 12 points and Devin Brierly also reached double figures, adding 10 points. 

The Braves return to action Tuesday when Bradley faces 25th-ranked Iowa at 5 p.m. in Iowa City, Iowa, in the first road game of the 2010-11 season.  Tuesday's game against the Hawkeyes will be carried in the Peoria area on WIRL 1290 AM.