PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley women's basketball team opens Missouri Valley Conference play at home for the first time since 2005-06, hosting preseason league favorite Missouri State Thursday at 7 p.m. at Renaissance Coliseum in the third game of a season-long, four-game home stand.
The Braves (9-3 overall) wrapped up the non-conference slate with a convincing 93-64 victory against in-state Western Illinois last Wednesday and enter conference play with the most victories in the league. BU, which matched a school record with nine non-conference victories, has scored 93 or more points in back-to-back games for the first time since 1998-99 and is averaging 85.2 points per game over the last four.
Thursday's matchup features the top two scoring teams in The Valley, with Missouri State (7-3 overall) averaging a league-best 76.0 points per outing and Bradley ranking second in the league behind the Bears in scoring at 70.7 points per game.
Bradley is riding a five-game win streak and the Braves have won seven of their last eight games after a 2-2 start to the year, while Missouri State owns a three-game win streak. The Bears have claimed six of their last seven, with the lone loss coming at Oklahoma State during that stretch.
BU has dropped the conference opener each of the last two years and will be starting league play at home for just the third time in 12th-year Bradley head coach Paula Buscher's tenure on The Hilltop. In fact, the Braves have opened Valley play at home 12 times in 28 years of conference membership.
Sophomore guard Catie O'Leary (Janesville, Wis./Parker/Wisconsin) was named MVC Newcomer of the Week on Monday after scoring a career-high 29 points in 22 minutes off the bench in last week's victory against Western Illinois. After starting the first seven games of the season, O'Leary has come off the bench in the last five games and is averaging 14.6 points and 4.6 rebounds during that stretch.
The Braves are off to a 9-3 start for the first time since opening the 2008-09 campaign with a 13-3 record and have started the year 9-3 or better for the seventh time in program history. BU's five-game win streak is the longest Bradley win streak since January 2010 and the longest non-conference win streak for the Braves since going 9-0 to open the 2001-02 season.
Video (subscription) and audio (free) streams of Thursday's contest will be available at BradleyBraves.com, along with an interactive live chat on the live stats feed. The game will be televised in the Springfield, Mo., area on Ozarks CW.
Halftime entertainment will be provided by K9 Crew and both Thursday's game against Missouri State and Saturday's contest against Wichita State are part of the Bradley Athletics Holiday Ticket Package. Fans can purchase tickets for both women's games in addition to tonight's men's basketball Missouri Valley Conference opener against Wichita State (7 p.m. at Carver Arena) for $20 at the Renaissance Coliseum Box Office.
Bradley closes out the season-long, four-game home stand Saturday with a 2 p.m. game against Wichita State at Renaissance Coliseum. The Braves Club will be hosting a pre-game party open to all Braves Club members beginning at noon.
