Freshman Kelsey Budd (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie) scored the first nine points of the game for Bradley (8-6 overall, 1-2 MVC) and had 11 points in the opening minutes to help the Braves to an early 22-15 lead.  Wichita State (7-7 overall, 1-1 MVC) managed to pull to within three points, before freshman Kelly Frings (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) scored nine points to highlight a 15-3 Bradley run which pushed the lead to 15 points (37-22) in the closing minutes of the half.

The Shockers scored the final six points of the opening half to trim BU's advantage to 37-28 at the break.  The Braves shot 58.3 percent in the first 20 minutes of play and finished the contest shooting 47.8 percent from the field.

Bradley went scoreless for the first 4:09 of the second half, but Wichita State managed just five points during that stretch to trim BU's lead to four points (37-33).  The advantage was 45-37 when the Braves put the game out of reach with an 11-2 run.

Sophomore Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) opened the spurt with a pair of free throws and junior Hanna Muegge (Hopkins, Minn./Hopkins) followed a free throw with a jumper from the top of the key.  Muegge made it five consecutive points with a pair of free throws with just over nine minutes to play to put Bradley in front 52-39.  Senior Raisa Taylor (Decatur, Ill./Eisenhower) and junior Lauren Niemiera (Orland Park, Ill./Marist) each added a pair of free throws to cap the run to extend the lead to 56-39 with seven and a half minutes remaining.

Taylor later scored four consecutive points to give Bradley its biggest lead of the night at 68-45 with 3:12 to play as she moved into a tie with Ashley Chelleen for 16th on BU's career scoring list at 925 points.  The Braves held the Shockers to 21.2 percent shooting in the second half and outrebounded Wichita State 29-17 in the final 20 minutes to pull away for the 68-49 win.

Kassing hit 5-of-7 shots off the bench and scored a season-high 12 points to go along with eight rebounds in 14 minutes.  Budd finished with 11 points and also had a season-best four steals.  Taylor finished with nine points and nine rebounds, while Frings was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and had nine points in nine minutes off the bench. 

Jessica Diamond and Haleigh Lankster paced the Shockers with 12 points each.  The Shockers forced 28 Bradley turnovers and had 17 steals, but managed just three second chance points after pulling down 12 offensive rebounds.

Bradley returns to action Saturday when the Braves welcome preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorite Missouri State to Renaissance Coliseum for a 7:05 p.m. game.