PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley women's basketball team finishes a season-long, four-game road swing Wednesday with a 7 p.m. game at in-state foe Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Ill. The Braves (3-2 overall) are coming off a 68-43 victory against Niagara and second-place finish at last week's Winthrop Classic.
BU and Northern Illinois (2-1 overall) will be meeting for the sixth consecutive year and eighth time in the last 10 seasons. The Huskies hold a 7-5 lead in the series after Bradley topped NIU 57-48 last year at Renaissance Coliseum in the final non-conference game of the season.
Wednesday's matchup at the Convocation Center closes out a three-game home stand for Northern Illinois, which is coming off a 58-52 win against Temple Sunday. The Huskies also topped future BU opponent Western Illinois 91-84 in double overtime to open the home stand.
The game against NIU will be broadcast in the Peoria area on 1290 AM WIRL and BradleyBraves.com will feature a free audio stream and live stats. A subscription video stream is also available via niuhuskies.com
One of the top defensive units in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Braves are surrendering a league-low 57.0 points per game and have held four of five opponents to 61 points or less to open the season. Bradley opened the season with five games in 10 days, capped by three games in three days at the Winthrop Classic in Rock Hill, S.C.
The midweek game is the first of two games against teams from the Mid-American Conference on the schedule for the Braves, who also play at Central Michigan (Dec. 3). It also marks the second of four non-conference games against teams from the state of Illinois. Bradley is also slated to face SIU Edwardsville (Dec. 6) and Western Illinois (Dec. 21).
Junior guard Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./York) earned all-tournament honors at the Winthrop Classic, averaging 11.0 points per game and hitting 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) three-pointers in the three games. Yohn has averaged 15.5 points and three assists per game in two previous games against Northern Illinois.
Senior Leah Kassing (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) scored eight points in just 10 minutes of action Sunday against Niagara to have a streak of six consecutive games in double figures snapped. Bradley's leading scorer at 12.6 points per game, Kassing has shot 58.7 percent from the field and averaged 13.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game over her last seven outings.
Senior MacKenzie Westcott (Williamsburg, Iowa/Williamsburg) has emerged as Bradley's top rebounder, pulling down 7.8 boards per game. Westcott has averaged 1.8 blocks per game and is scoring a career-best 9.4 points per game.
Bradley returns home Monday to face Wisconsin-Milwaukee in a 7 p.m. game at Renaissance Coliseum, before playing three consecutive road games beginning with a Dec. 1 matchup at Butler.
