PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley women's basketball team will play its final non-conference home game of the year Saturday when Northern Illinois visits for a 7:05 p.m. contest at Renaissance Coliseum. The Braves (6-3 overall) own a three-game win streak and have won five of the last six heading into Saturday's tilt with the Huskies after picking up a 62-55 win at Western Illinois last week.
After a week and a half off for finals, Bradley returns to the court to play the second of four consecutive games against teams from the state of Illinois and Saturday's game is the final home contest for BU before the end of the calendar year. The Braves next home game will be the Missouri Valley Conference home opener against Wichita State (Jan. 6).
Senior Raisa Taylor (Decatur, Ill./Eisenhower) scored 14 of Bradley's final 18 points and collected 18 of her game and season-high 22 points in the second half to help the Braves to the victory at WIU last time out. BU not only picked up its third consecutive victory, but the team earned its third straight road win and improved to 3-1 in road contests this season. Bradley had not won three consecutive non-conference road matchups since winning six straight non-league road games between the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.
Taylor enters Saturday's game with a team-leading 14.0 points-per-game average and needs 15 points to pass Amy Peters for 18th on Bradley's career scoring list. Sophomore guard Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) had 16 points and five assists in her first collegiate game last year in DeKalb, Ill., vs. the Huskies and is averaging 13.6 points per game this season. Junior Latasha Hollingshed (Bellwood, Ill./St. Joseph/Illinois Central) is pulling down a Missouri Valley Conference best 10.4 rebounds per game, while scoring 8.9 points per outing to help lead the Braves.
The Braves are 2-1 at Renaissance Coliseum this season after topping Saint Louis 81-64 earlier this month. Northern Illinois has won three of the last four meetings with Bradley to take a 7-4 lead in the all-time series after defeating the Braves 86-73 in last year's season opener in DeKalb, Ill. BU is 3-3 in home games in the series, with Bradley claiming three of the last four home contests against NIU.
Saturday's game will mark head coach Paula Buscher's 300th game with the Braves. Buscher will be just the sixth coach in Missouri Valley Conference history to reach the 300-game mark.
Northern Illinois (5-5 overall) has spent a lot of time on the road in the early going under first-year head coach Kathi Bennett, who was head coach at Missouri Valley Conference rival Evansville from 1997-2000. Saturday's game will be the fifth consecutive road game for the Huskies and NIU will have played 10 of its first 11 games away from home following the game against the Braves. Northern Illinois is 3-5 in road games on the year and also owns a neutral site victory against George Washington.
The Huskies are coming off back-to-back losses to in-state teams in DePaul (52-72) and Northwestern (59-68). NIU has played six teams from the state of Illinois, posting wins at Western Illinois (73-65) and Southern Illinois (46-45) in addition to picking up a win against Chicago State (68-64) in the team's only home game of the year. Northern Illinois suffered a 45-50 loss to Bradley's final non-conference opponent - Illinois-Chicago. The Braves will play the Flames Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. in Chicago. The Huskies also have a 71-64 road win at Northern Iowa.
Live stats for Saturday's game will be available at www.BradleyBraves.com and video (subscription) and audio (free) streams will also be available at the Live Event Schedule link on the Bradley Athletics website.
Season tickets for the 2010-11 women's basketball campaign are $75 for the general public and $30 for Bradley faculty and staff at the Renaissance Coliseum ticket office (1601 W. Main Street). Individual tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for children (K-12) and Bradley faculty and staff. For more information please call (309) 677-2625. Free parking is available for all Bradley women's basketball home games at the Main Street Parking Deck located just west of Renaissance Coliseum at the corners of Main Street & Maplewood.
