For Starters
Bradley (16-13 overall) is making its first postseason appearance in program history, playing in the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI). The Braves tied for third in the regular-season Missouri Valley Conference standings, but fell in the quarterfinals of last week's State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Charles, Mo., to eventual champion Northern Iowa (50-70).
After a 4-8 start to the year, Bradley won 10 of 12 games and tied a school record with a 12-6 conference mark. Bradley also matched the best conference finish in program history, tying for third in the standings. The Braves are guaranteed to finish with a winning record for the second consecutive year, marking the first back-to-back winning seasons since the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons.
Bradley is the #6 seed in the East Region, while Louisville is the #3 seed.
Louisville (14-17 overall) was the national runner-up in the NCAA Tournament to Big East Conference foe Connecticut in 2008-09. The Cardinals tied for 12th in the Big East standings with a 5-11 record this season. This is the 17th postseason appearance for Louisville which has 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and three WNIT appearances.
The winner of Wednesday's game will advance to this weekend's WBI quarterfinals where they will face either #2 seed College of Charleston or #7 seed Morehead State.
About Louisville
Louisville was picked to finish third in the Big East preseason poll after last year's historic run to a 34-5 overall record and national runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals battled through many key injuries during the course of the season and bring a 14-17 overall record into Wednesday's WBI opener.
Sophomore forward Monique Reid is Louisville's leading scorer at 18.1 points per game and leads the Cardinals in rebounding at 9.2 boards per contest. Reid averages 7.1 free throw attempts per game and is shooting 81 percent from the line.
Sophomore Becky Burke is the only player to start all 31 games and is adding 14.0 points per game. Louisville's top outside threat, she is shooting 36.6 percent from beyond the arc and has connected on 71 trey's.
Junior center Keshia Hines is adding 9.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per outing, while shooting a team-best 52.9 percent from the field.
Freshman guard Nikki Burton is scoring 5.9 points per outing and junior guard LaToya Johnson adds 4.8 points per tilt, but neither played in the Big East Tournament because of injury.
Louisville is 7-6 at home this season and owns a 129-22 (.854) record at Freedom Hall since the start of the 1998-99 season.
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 four of its top eight scorers from 2008-09 and one of the top inside players in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Braves roster features just two seniors and a total of four upperclassmen (two juniors) to go along with five 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 was named the MVC's Defensive Player of the Year this season and also earned Second-Team All-MVC recognition for the second consecutive year. Harris also joined former teammate Skye Johnson as the only two-time MVC All-Defensive team selections in program history. This season, she is averaging 8.9 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game on the season after reaching double figures in rebounds in 17 of 29 games. Harris leads the league in blocked shots and is second in rebounding.
Freshman Katie Yohn has led the team in scoring a team best nine times and has started 17 contests. A versatile player with the ability to shoot from the outside or penetrate, she is the team's leading scorer at 9.9 points per game and her 51 three-pointers is the second-best total by a Bradley freshman. Yohn was an honorable mention All-Missouri Valley Conference pick and was also named to the Valley's All-Freshman team. She averaged 10.4 points per game in conference play and was named MVC Newcomer of the Week three times this year.
Junior Raisa Taylor ranks second on the team in both scoring (9.2 ppg) and assists (2.2 apg), while also leading the squad in steals (1.5 spg). Taylor ended the season strong, averaging 17.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game over the last three contests.
Senior co-captain Jenny Van Kirk is the only player to start all 29 games this season and is adding 6.4 points and 5.0 boards per game, while leading the team with a 1.54 assist-to-turnover ratio. Van Kirk averaged 6.7 points and 5.6 rebounds in Valley play.
Bradley picked up where it left off last year, outrebounding 23 of the first 29 opponents on the schedule by an average margin of +6.2. The Braves lead the Valley in both rebounding (41.1 rpg) and rebounding margin. BU is second in the MVC in field goal percentage defense (.372) and leads the league in blocked shots (5.1 bpg), while ranking fourth in the league in field goal percentage (.422).
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 133-155 (.462) at BU. The 2008-09 Rawlings Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Buscher owns a 176-193 (.477) career record and is in her 13th year as a collegiate head coach. She is the all-time wins leader in program history with her 133 victories at BU and is 11th all-time in Missouri Valley Conference history in victories. Last season she led Bradley to a school-record 21 victories (21-10 overall) and has guided the Braves to a 23-13 (.639) conference mark over the last two seasons. The 23 league wins are the most in a two-year period in program history and Bradley's 12-6 record this year is tied for the best league mark in program history. 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.
Jeff Walz is in his third year as head coach of the Louisville Cardinals and owns a 74-32 (.698) career coaching mark. The 2007-08 WBCA/Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year, he led his first Louisville team to a 26-10 overall record and NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. Last year, Walz guided the Cardinals to a 34-5 mark and runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament.
Last Time Out
Bradley led by as many as 10 points in the first half, but Northern Iowa rallied to upset the Braves 70-50 in the quarterfinals of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Friday. The Panthers used a 19-6 run to end the half with a 31-24 lead. After the Braves trimmed the UNI lead to six points, Northern Iowa scored 12 consecutive points to build an 18-point advantage. Bradley got no closer than eight points the remainder of the game, as the Panthers answered with a 20-6 run. Junior Raisa Taylor had 12 points to lead the Braves and freshman Katie Yohn chipped in with 10 points.
Louisville Series
Bradley holds a 2-1 series lead in the series with Louisville, but the two teams have not met since the 1997-98 season. The home team has won each of the three meetings between the two programs. The Cardinals took the first meeting, downing the Braves 82-77 on Dec. 9, 1990. The Braves took the rematch the following season, winning 71-67 at Robertson Memorial Field House on Dec. 21, 1991. Bradley also won a meeting on Dec. 18, 1997 by the score of 76-67 at Robertson Memorial Field House.
Against The Big East
Bradley is 7-5 all-time against current members of the Big East, including a 2-1 record against Louisville. The Braves are 1-1 against Cincinnati and 4-3 vs. Marquette, but own an 0-1 record against Notre Dame. Bradley's last game against a current Big East member was BU's last meeting with Louisville during the 1997-98 season.
Postseason Bound
Bradley is making the first postseason appearance in program history after receiving a bid to this year's inaugural Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI). The women's basketball team is in its 35th year overall and this year's 16 victories is tied for the sixth most in program history. Last year, the Braves were just the second 20-win team in the history of the Missouri Valley Conference to be left out of the postseason.
Braves Tie School Record For Valley Wins
Bradley finished the Missouri Valley Conference schedule with a 12-6 record, tying the school record for most conference wins. The 1989-90 squad is the only other team in school history to win 12 league games. The Braves 23 MVC wins over the last two years are the most in back-to-back years, surpassing the previous mark of 21. In addition, Bradley tied for third in the final regular-season Valley standings, to match the best conference finish in program history. The Braves also tied for third during the 1991-92 season with an 11-7 record.
Winning Ways
After picking up a school record 21 victories in 2008-09, Bradley head coach Paula Buscher and the Braves have continued their winning ways in 2009-10 as they are guaranteed to finish the season with a winning record. The Braves have back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the 1985-86 (16-12) and 1986-87 (15-13) campaigns. Bradley owns a 37-23 (.617) record since the start of the 2008-09 season. The 37 victories in a two-year period are the most in back-to-back years since the 1980-81 and 1981-82 squads combined for a 38-16 (.704) record. The school record for victories in consecutive years is 39. The 1979-80 and 1980-81 teams were 39-17 (.696) during the final two years of Jan Winkler's tenure as head coach.
On The Road Again
Bradley will match a school season record with its 16th road game of the year Wednesday when the Braves visit in the first round of the inaugural WBI. The Braves wrapped up the regular season with a 7-8 road record, marking the most road wins since the 2004-05 squad went 7-6 in road games. The school mark for road wins in a season is eight; set during the 1989-90 season (8-5) and later matched by the 1996-97 squad.
Evolving Backcourt
At the completion of arguably the best season in program history in 2008-09 it appeared the Braves were going to return one of the top backcourts in the Missouri Valley Conference after then junior Skye Johnson and freshman Michelle Lund combined to average 18.1 points, 7.8 assists, 1.4 blocks and 2.8 steals while shooting a combined 41.2 percent from three-point range last year. Johnson graduated in May and decided not to use her final year of eligibility as she began work toward her Physical Therapy Master's degree. Lund missed most of the preseason and later took a leave of absence from the team following the game at Illinois on Nov. 22 and has since transferred. After tinkering with the lineup throughout the non-conference season, head coach Paula Buscher inserted Hanna Muegge into the starting lineup for the Dec. 19 game against Air Force. Muegge averaged 6.9 points per game and was shooting a league-best 50 percent from three-point range in conference play before tearing her ACL and MCL in the second half of Bradley's loss at Illinois State. Freshman guard Katie Yohn and junior guard Raisa Taylor have helped take over the scoring role, combining for 19.1 points per game, while senior Renee Frericks along with Yohn and Taylor average 6.3 assists per game.
Harris Named MVC Defensive Player of the Year
For the second time in the last three years Bradley has claimed the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year, as junior Sonya Harris earned the distinction this season as a junior. Harris leads the MVC in blocked shots with 61 (2.1 per game) and ranks second in the league in rebounding at 10.0 boards per game. She helped Bradley limit conference opponents to 61.7 points per game. Harris ranks 29th in the nation in blocked shots and also ranks 29th nationally in rebounding.
Senior Send Off
Senior co-captains Renee Frericks and Jenny Van Kirk have been a big part of the Braves turnaround over the last four years. The duo arrived on The Hilltop on the heels of a 9-19 season and following a four-year period in which Bradley posted a 46-66 (.411) record. Since the start of their freshman year, Bradley has posted a 61-60 (.504) record, including a 36-36 (.500) league mark. The 61 victories over the last four years are the most in a four-year stretch since the 1983-84 second class finished up a four-year run with 61 wins. In fact the 61 wins is tied for the fourth most in a four-year period. The Braves' 36 conference wins since the start of the 2006-07 season is tied for the second-best total in program history. The 1991-92 seniors were the only team to have more league wins, finishing with a 38-34 record.
Braves Rally From 14 Down
Bradley rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit to top Missouri State in the regular season finale and finish the year in a tie with the Bears for third in the standings. The 14-point deficit was the largest overcome this season for the Braves and marked the largest deficit in a Bradley win since rallying from 15 down against Illinois-Chicago in the 2005-06 season opener at Robertson Memorial Field House.
Close Calls
Bradley closed out the regular season with a pair of close calls, edging Wichita State 58-55 and rallying for a 65-64 victory against Missouri State. The Braves had not won consecutive games by three points or fewer since the 1990-91 season. Bradley posted a one-point win at Indiana State on Jan. 26, 1991 and followed it up with a 54-51 victory against Missouri State on Feb. 1. The Braves are 8-3 this year in games decided by less than 10 points, including a perfect 3-0 in games where the final margin is fewer than five.
Harris & Yohn Earn All-Valley Honors
Junior Sonya Harris was a second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection, while freshman Katie Yohn earned honorable mention All-Valley recognition announced by the league office Wednesday. Harris is a repeat second-team selection, making her first two-time all-conference pick since Sara Bailey was a back-to-back first-team pick in 2000-01 and 2001-02 before finishing up her career with honorable mention All-MVC honors as a senior in 2002-03. Yohn is the second freshman in school history to earn all-conference honors, joining Karin Nicholls who was honorable mention All-Gateway as a freshman in 1986-87.
Harris Earns All-Defensive Team Honors
Junior Sonya Harris earned MVC All-Defensive team honors, making her one of two repeat selections on the squad this year. Harris, who leads the Valley in blocked shots at 2.1 per game, ranks eighth in MVC history in rejections and joined Skye Johnson as the only two-time All-Defensive team picks in school history.
Yohn Selected To All-Freshman Team
Freshman Katie Yohn was selected to the MVC's five-member All-Freshman team announced Wednesday. Bradley's leading scorer at 9.9 points per game she is looking to become the first freshman to lead the team in scoring since Connie Griffith in 1977-78. Yohn was a three-time MVC Newcomer of the Week honoree this season. Bradley has had six players named to the Valley's All-Freshman team during head coach Paula Buscher's 10 years on The Hilltop.
Van Kirk & Frericks Named MVC Scholar-Athletes
Senior Jenny Van Kirk earned First-Team Missouri Valley Conference scholar-athlete recognition and fellow senior Renee Frericks earned honorable mention recognition. A second-team selection last year, Van Kirk is Bradley's first First-Team Valley Scholar-Athlete selection since Genny Mueller in 2004-05 and joins Mueller and Heather Best as the only multiple winners in program history. Van Kirk owns a 4.0 cumulative grade point average and is enrolled in Bradley's Individualized Major Program. Frericks owns a 3.92 cumulative GPA in mathematics - secondary education.
Happy Birthday To You
Junior Raisa Taylor celebrated her 21st birthday by posting a double-double to help lead Bradley to a 58-55 victory against Wichita State on March 4. Taylor collected 19 points and tied a career-high with 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the year and third of her career. She scored four points in the final 1:35 of the game, including the final basket of the contest with 24 seconds remaining. Taylor followed up her birthday performance with a season-best 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting as she scored 14 points in the second half to help fuel Bradley's come-from-behind victory.
The SWAT Team
Bradley matched a season high with 10 blocked shots against Wichita State (March 4), with junior Sonya Harris highlighting the block party with six swats against the Shockers. The six-block effort marked the sixth time in her career Harris has recorded six or more blocks in a game. Bradley's 10 blocks as a team is tied for the seventh best single game total in program history. The Braves have notched a league-best 148 rejections on the year, which ranks second among Bradley season marks to last year's 185 blocks. Bradley's 139 blocks is the seventh best season total in MVC history.
Last Game At Lorene Ramsey Gym
Bradley's regular-season against Missouri State (March 6) marked what quite possibly could be the final game at what has been the Braves "home-away-from-home" for the past two seasons. BU will return to campus next season as construction of a new Athletics Performance Center nears completion. Bradley enjoyed a significant home court advantage at Illinois Central College's Lorene Ramsey Gym, going 20-4 (.833) at the facility over the last two years. The Braves are 21-5 (.808) at home over the past two seasons, which includes two games played at area high schools, and boast an impressive 30-10 (.750) mark at home since the start of the 2007-08 season.
Muegge To Miss Remainder Of Season
Sophomore guard Hanna Muegge will miss the remainder of the season after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee during the second half of the game at Illinois State (Feb. 25). Muegge also suffered a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament and a lateral bone bruise. After playing a total of 14 minutes in the first eight games of the season, she emerged as a started and had helped Bradley to an 11-5 record in her 16 games in the starting five. Muegge was fourth on the team in scoring in MVC games, averaging 6.9 points per outing and was shooting a league-best 50 percent (16-for-32) from three-point range in conference play.
The Future Is Bright
Freshman Katie Yohn leads the Braves in scoring at 9.9 points per game and has averaged 11.0 points per game over the last eight outings. Her 287 points this season rank as the sixth most by a Bradley freshman and she is looking to become the first freshman to lead the team in scoring since Connie Griffith paced BU with an 18.3 ppg average as a frosh in 1977-78. Griffith is the only player in program history to lead the team in scoring in each of her four years as a Brave. Yohn also has a chance to become the first BU freshman to average 10 or more points since Heather Best averaged 12.6 points per game in 1995-96.
On The Rebound
Junior Sonya Harris is second in the Missouri Valley Conference in rebounding this season at 10.0 boards per game after ranking third in the league in rebounding last year at 8.5 per tilt. Her 290 rebounds on the year is the third best season total in program history and is the highest rebound total for a Bradley player since Carrie Coffman had a school-record 302 boards in 1994-95. Harris joined Roxanne Grabow as the only players in program history to own two of the top 10 season rebounding totals in school history and is now seventh on Bradley's career rebounding list.
Cleaning The Glass
Junior Sonya Harris has reached double digits in rebounds in a school record 35 games in her near three seasons, including 17 of 29 outings to open the 2009-10 slate. She broke Dena Williams' school record for career double-digit rebounding efforts with 16 boards at Indiana State Feb. 28. Harris' 17 double-digit rebounding games this season is the second best season total in program history to Carrie Coffman's 19 in 1994-95.
From Downtown
Bradley ranks seventh in the MVC in three-point field goals per game at 5.3 per game, but the Braves 155 triples this season is tied for the fifth best season total in school history. The 5.3 three-point baskets per game is the seventh-best average in school history. Bradley made 158 three-pointers last season and the Braves' two-year total of 313 trey's is the fifth-best in back-to-back years.
Filling It Up
Freshman Katie Yohn has had a knack for filling up the stat sheet, averaging 11.1 points, 2.3 assists, 0.9 blocks and 1.8 steals per game over the last eight outings. The team's leading scorer at 9.9 points per game, she is second on the team in steals (37 - 1.3 spg) and blocks (20 - 0.7 bpg) and fourth in assists (56 - 1.9 apg). Yohn has joined Heather Best as the only freshman in program history with season totals of at least 200 points, 50 assists, 20 blocks and 30 steals.
How Sweep It Is
Bradley completed regular-season series sweeps of Creighton and Drake, giving the Braves sweeps of four series this season. In addition to picking up the first regular-season series sweep of the Bluejays in program history, Bradley is the first team to sweep Creighton and Drake in the same season since 2006-07. BU's four series sweep this season are the most since taking four regular-season series during the 2002-03 season.
Braves Sweep Valley Weekly Awards
Bradley swept the Missouri Valley Conference weekly awards for the week of Feb. 22, with junior Sonya Harris earning State Farm MVC Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career and freshman Katie Yohn taking home MVC Newcomer of the Week honors for the third time this season. Harris averaged 17.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.5 blocks and 1.5 steals while shooting 63.6 percent from the field in wins against Creighton and Drake. Yohn tossed in 13.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 3.0 steals per game in the victories. Bradley swept the awards for the first time since the Valley started giving out a newcomer of the week award for the 2003-04 season.
Pink Zone Game
Bradley's Feb. 21 home game against Drake marked the seventh annual Pink Zone Game sponsored by the Bradley women's basketball team with proceeds from the contest benefitting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. Bradley raised $7,000 for the Komen Foundation during this year's event and has brought in nearly $52,000 during the history of the event. Bradley is 6-1 in its Pink Zone game.
Career Night
Junior Sonya Harris turned in arguably the best outing of her career against Creighton (Feb. 19), finishing with career highs of 23 points and six assists to go along with 14 rebounds (10 offensive) and three blocked shots. Harris was 10-of-16 from the field against the Bluejays and is just the second player since Tammy Van Oppen's triple-double against Southern Illinois on Dec. 31, 1996 to collect 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a game. Devyn Flanagan also turned in a 20-10-5 performance at Missouri State on Jan. 25, 2007, tallying 25 points, 10 boards and five assists against the Bears.
Four-Game Road Win Streak
Northern Iowa snapped a four-game Missouri Valley Conference road win streak, topping the Braves 84-60 in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Feb. 13. The four-game MVC road win streak is the longest for the Braves since the 1991-92 team won its last five conference road games to finish 11-7 in league action. Bradley finished with a 4-5 in MVC road games, marking just the eighth time in 27 years of conference membership BU had four road league wins and in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.
Feeling Rejected
Junior Sonya Harris collected three blocked shots in Bradley's MVC quarterfinal loss to Northern Iowa to push her conference leading total to 61 on the year. Her 61 blocks rank as the second best season total in school history and 14th in Valley history. Harris is currently eighth on the MVC's career blocked shot chart and is the only player in program history to record 60 or more blocks in back-to-back seasons, in addition to ranking second on BU's career blocked shot list. She needs four blocks to climb into sixth place in Valley history. Harris is 24 blocks from overtaking Dena Williams for most career blocks at BU.
Academic All-District Honors
Seniors Jenny Van Kirk and Renee Frericks were both named ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District V selections, with Van Kirk earning the distinction for the second consecutive year. Van Kirk is the second repeat selection in program history after earning first-team All-District V honors this year. Enrolled in Bradley's Individualized Major Program, Van Kirk owns a 4.0 cumulative grade point average. Frericks earned second-team All-District V honors to give Bradley two Academic All-District selections in the same year for the first time in program history. A mathematics secondary education major, Frericks owns a 3.92 cumulative grade point average.
A January To Remember
Bradley finished the month of January with an impressive 6-2 record (.750). The Braves had not posted a winning record in the first month of a new year since going 5-4 in 1996-97 and the six victories were the most in the month of January since the 1989-90 squad went 8-2 to kick off the year 1990.
Six-Game Valley Win Streak Snapped
Bradley opened Missouri Valley Conference play with back-to-back road losses, but rattled off six consecutive victories before the home loss to Illinois State on Jan. 31. The six-game Valley win streak is tied for the longest in program history, matching last season's six-game win streak. I-74 rival Illinois State ended both six-game win streaks, posting an 82-61 win against the Braves last year at Redbird Arena.
More About Win Streaks
The Braves had a season-long six-game win streak snapped against I-74 rival Illinois State on Jan. 31. The six-game win streak is tied for the fifth longest in program history and is the fourth streak of six or more wins under head coach Paula Buscher. The Braves had win streaks of seven and six games in 2008-09 en route to a program record 21 victories.
Defense Making the Difference
Defense has been the main reason for Bradley's success in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Braves rank second in the MVC in field goal percentage defense (.372) and have held eight opponents to less than 33 percent shooting. While Missouri State shot 40 percent against the Braves in the final game of the regular season, Bradley held the league's top offensive unit to just 64 points. The 64 points were the fewest scored by Missouri State in Valley play. Over the last 21 games foes have combined to shoot 36.3 percent from the field and averaged 61.5 points per game.
Balanced Attack
Bradley has utilized a balanced attack most of the season with seven players averaging between 4.8 points and 10.0 points per game on the year. The Braves are the only MVC team without a player averaging 10 points or more per game and one of just four schools in the MVC without a player averaging at least three assists per outing. The Braves rank third in the league in assists per game as team (14.1). Bradley has had 10 different players lead the team in scoring and has had a different leading scorer in six of the last 10 games.
Braves Sweep Creighton-Drake Road Swing
Bradley ended a two-game road losing skid with victories at Creighton (63-57) and at Drake (61-58) earlier this season. The Braves swept the Creighton-Drake road swing for the first time in program history, marking just the 11th time a road team has won regular-season games at Creighton and Drake in the same season. The road sweep was the first since Illinois State and Indiana State both accomplished the feat the final weekend of the regular-season in 2006-07.
Minnesota Connection
Bradley has used 11 different starting combinations on the year through 29 games. A player from the state of Minnesota has been in the starting lineup for each of the 29 games this season, but Bradley is an impressive 8-2 on the year when all three Gopher State natives are in the starting five. While Waconia, Minn., native Jenny Van Kirk is the only player on the roster to start all 29 games this season and Wyoming, Minn., native Renee Frericks has helped Bradley to a 10-6 record in her starts; Bradley went 11-5 when sophomore guard Hanna Muegge (Hopkins, Minn.) was in the starting five before her season-ending injury.
Getting Defensive
Bradley held Creighton to a season-low 22.7 percent shooting in the first meeting in the regular-season series this year as the Braves posted a 63-57 road victory against the Bluejays. The 22.7 percent shooting by the Bluejays is the lowest by a Missouri Valley Conference opponent and is tied for the third best defensive effort by the Braves. Creighton's shooting percentage was the lowest for a BU opponent since holding Texas Southern to a school record 20.6 percent shooting on Dec. 5, 1992.
Buscher Breaks BU Win Mark
Head coach Paula Buscher became the all-time wins leader in program history with BU's 74-62 victory against Northern Iowa on Jan. 15, picking up her 124th win as head coach of the Braves. She entered the game against UNI with an identical record to Boyer's 123-150 (.451) mark as head coach of the Braves. Buscher is 133-155 (.462) as head coach of the Braves and is 11th in Missouri Valley Conference history with 133 victories. She has accounted for 133 of BU's 432 all-time wins or 30.8 percent. Buscher also owns the school record for Missouri Valley Conference wins with 77 and ranked 11th all-time in league wins.
Freshman Bomber
Freshman Katie Yohn has connected on a team-best 51 three-pointers this season and has hit six three-pointers in a game on two occasions. She is just the seventh player in program history with two outings with six trey's or more in the same season and joins Michelle Lund as the only freshmen in program history to accomplish the feat. Yohn's 51 three-pointers is the second-best total by a BU freshman behind Lund's 75 three-pointers last season and is tied for the 15th best total by a freshman in MVC history.
Hot Hands
Junior Sonya Harris is shooting 49.3 percent from the field, but shot an even more impressive 51.8 percent in Missouri Valley Conference play. Harris has been on a bit of a roll of late, shooting 65-for-119 (54.6 percent) over the last 14 contests and is averaging 10.5 points per game during that stretch.
Up Next
The winner of Wednesday's game between Bradley and Louisville will face the winner of the game between #2 College of Charleston and #7 Morehead State in the quarterfinals of the Women's Basketball Invitational. The game will take place on Saturday and Sunday with time and site to be announced.
Bench Coming Up Big
Bradley has had at least one player come off the bench and score in double figures in 18 of 29 games this season. BU's reserves have accounted for 42.6 percent of the team's offense this season and the Braves' bench has been outscored by the opponent's counterparts in just six of 29 outings. Bradley's bench is averaging 26.8 points per game and boasts an average scoring margin of +9.8 points per game compared to the opponents' reserves.
Pounding The Boards
After leading the league in rebounding in 2008-09 with a 41.6 rebounds per game average, Bradley is once again dominating the glass. The Braves lead the Missouri Valley Conference in rebounding (41.1 rpg) and also boast a league-best +6.3 average rebounding margin on the year. Bradley is looking to become the first team to lead the MVC in rebounding in back-to-back seasons since Northern Iowa in 1997-98 and again in 1998-99. BU has outrebounded 23 of 29 opponents this season and has matched our outrebounded its foe in 48 of the last 60 games.
Climbing The Charts
Junior Sonya Harris pulled down her 600th career rebound against Creighton on Feb. 19 and moved into Bradley's career top 10 in rebounding. Harris is second in the MVC in rebounding at 10.0 per game and jumped up two spots on Bradley's career rebounding list with an 11 board effort against Northern Iowa in the MVC Tournament. She needs six rebounds to pass Shelli Braud for sixth on BU's career list.
Braves Rally For Win
The Braves rallied from a halftime deficit to post a win for the first time this season with a 72-66 win at Saint Louis to wrap up the non-conference schedule. Bradley, which is now 5-11 when trailing at the half, had lost 35 consecutive road games in which it trailed at the break. BU's last road win in a game in which it trailed at halftime prior to the win against the Billikens, was a 72-69 victory at Missouri State on March 3, 2005.
Success Against The Mountain West
Bradley is 7-8 on the road this season, with two of the seven road wins coming on the home courts of Mountain West Conference foes after a 62-45 victory at Air Force (Dec. 19). The Braves have won four consecutive games against current members of the Mountain West Conference and own a 4-1 overall record against the league.
Non-Conference Home Win Streak Snapped
Arkansas-Little Rock snapped Bradley's 10-game non-conference home win streak with a 58-51 victory against the Braves on Dec. 5 at Woodruff High School. The 10-game non-conference home win streak is the longest since Bradley joined the Gateway Conference for the 1983-84 season. The Braves still boast an eight-game home win streak against in-state non-conference foes. Bradley is 28-13 (.683) at home against non-conference opponents under 10th-year head coach Paula Buscher.
The Young And The Restless
All three freshmen have paced the Braves in scoring at least once and frosh Katie Yohn has led BU in scoring a team-best nine times. Three of Bradley's top nine scorers are freshmen, with Yohn leading the squad with a 9.9 points per game average. Olivia Allen has reached double figures five times and is adding 3.9 points per game, while Brooke Bisping is scoring 3.3 points per game. The Braves' freshmen class has combined for 26.5 percent of the team's scoring this season.
High Scoring Freshman
Freshman Katie Yohn scored a team-best 25 points to help lead Bradley to a victory at UNLV (Nov. 29). 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' freshmen season, only five different BU freshmen have scored 25 or more points in a game.
Lund Takes Leave
Sophomore guard Michelle Lund took a leave of absence from the team citing personal reasons following Bradley's game at Illinois and has since decided to transfer. Lund was the Braves top returning scorer from last year's team which finished 21-10 overall. She averaged 9.4 points per game and was one of the top outside scoring threats in the Missouri Valley Conference, making 77-of-184 (.418) three-point attempts. 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. She has missed the last 26 games.
Yohn Earns MVC Newcomer of the Week Again
Freshman Katie Yohn has been selected as the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week three times this season. She joins Michelle Lund as the only three-time MVC Newcomer of the of the Week selection in program history and is one of three players in the conference to earn the honor three times or more this season. Stephany Neptune of Southern Illinois and Missouri State's Christiana Shorter each won the award four times this year.
Double Trouble
Junior Sonya Harris collected her team-leading seventh double-double of the year at Indiana State (Feb. 28), finishing with 10 points and 16 rebounds. Harris now has 21 career double-doubles which is tied for the second best total in Bradley history and most since Carrie Coffman notched a school record 28 double-double efforts from 1991-95. She collected eight double-doubles last year as a sophomore after nearly averaging a double-double in Missouri Valley Conference play in 2008-09 (9.7 ppg & 10.1 rpg). This season Harris is averaging 8.9 points and 10.0 boards per outing.
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 is scoring 9.9 points per game on the year, while Allen is adding 3.9 per outing. 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.
What Do They Know?
For the fourth consecutive year and eighth time in the last 10 years under head coach Paula Buscher Bradley has finished higher than predicted in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll. The Braves were picked to finish sixth in the annual preseason vote this season, but tied with Missouri State for third place in the final standings with a 12-6 record.
Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
Senior forward Jenny Van Kirk was 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, who was a candidate last season, as the only players in program history to serve as national candidates for the honor. Van Kirk owns a 4.0 cumulative grade point average and was a second-team MVC Scholar-Athlete last year. She is a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V selection in addition to earning Division I-AAA Athletic Director's Scholar-Athlete honors.
