PEORIA, Ill. -- Sophomore transfer Catie O'Leary (Janesville, Wis./Parker/Wisconsin) was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line and finished with a game-high 15 points in her first game on The Hilltop, helping the Bradley women's basketball team to a 59-49 season-opening victory against Northern Colorado at Renaissance Coliseum Saturday afternoon.

Both squads got off to slow starts, combining to shoot 22 percent from the field (11-for-50) in the first half.  Bradley (1-0 overall) led 12-6 at the 11-minute mark after a Leah Kassing (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) hoop, but the Braves went scoreless for a seven-minute stretch as Northern Colorado (0-1 overall) took a 15-12 lead. 

Despite the long scoreless stretch and a 10-and-a-half minute period without a field goal, BU held the Bears scoreless the final 4:57 of the half and took an 18-15 lead into the break.

O'Leary was scoreless in the first half, but collected 15 points, six rebounds and two assists after the intermission to help power Bradley to the 10-point victory.  An O'Leary three-pointer with 15:46 to play gave the Braves a 28-23 lead and BU pushed the advantage to nine points on a Shronda Butts (Des Moines, Iowa/East) steal and layup with 13 minutes remaining.

Bradley held a 42-37 advantage with just under eight minutes on the clock when O'Leary took over.  She scored 10 of her game-high 15 points in the final 7:40 of the contest to help the Braves push the lead to as many as 12 points en route to the 59-49 victory.

After shooting 20.7 percent from the field in the first half, Bradley was 12-for-28 from the field (42.9 percent) in the second half and made 16-of-17 free throw attempts in the final 20 minutes.  O'Leary led the Braves with 15 points and nine rebounds as she became the ninth player in program history to make 10 or more free throws in a game without a miss.

Kassing added 12 points and eight rebounds in the victory, helping BU to a 43-36 rebounding edge.  Butts chipped in with eight points, three boards, one assist and two steals in 18 minutes off the bench in her first game as a Brave. 

Northern Colorado's D'shara Strange recorded the first triple-double in Renaissance Coliseum history with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 steals.  The Bears committed 28 turnovers in the loss and made just 15-of-26 free throw attempts (57.7 percent).

The Braves improved to 17-5 when opening a season at home and BU is now 9-3 in home openers under 12th-year head coach Paula Buscher, who earned her 150th victory as head coach at Bradley.

Bradley closes out a season-opening, two-game homestand Tuesday with a 7 p.m. game against Eastern Illinois at Renaissance Coliseum.