Box Score EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Senior Raisa Taylor (Decatur, Ill./Eisenhower) paced three Bradley players in double figures with 17 points to help lead the Braves to a 66-59 victory against Evansville Thursday night at Roberts Stadium.
The game got off to an ugly start with the squads combining for just 14 points and 17 turnovers in the first 10 minutes of play. Bradley (12-13 overall, 5-9 MVC) held an 8-6 advantage midway through the period and Taylor later highlighted an 8-0 BU run with six consecutive points to put the Braves in front 19-13 with three minutes left in the first half.
Khristian Hart ended a near six-minute scoring drought for Evansville (8-16 overall, 3-10 MVC) with a three-pointer and the Purple Aces ended the period with a 10-3 spurt to take a 23-22 lead into the break. Bradley forced 15 first-half turnovers and limited Evansville to 33 percent shooting, but the Purple Aces outrebounded the Braves 23-15 in the first half and had 10 second chance points.
Bradley heated up in the second half, shooting 54 percent after the break to pull away. The Braves held a 46-42 advantage with seven minutes to play when sophomore Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) highlighted a 10-4 BU spurt with four points, a rebound and a steal to help push the advantage to 56-46 with four minutes remaining.
The lead was still at double digits (61-51) with 52.7 seconds left after a pair of free throws by sophomore Brooke Bisping (Morton, Ill./Morton) and Bradley's lead stood at 63-54 after a pair of Yohn free throws, before Evansville's Briyana Blair banked in a desperation three-pointer from the left wing with 17.5 seconds to cut BU's lead to 63-56.
The Purple Aces got within five points (64-59) after a pair of free throws by Stephanie Bamberger with 5.7 seconds to play, but a pair of Hanna Muegge (Hopkins, Minn./Hopkins) free throws with 4.5 seconds on the clock provided the final margin (66-59) as the Braves completed the regular-season sweep with their fourth consecutive victory in the series.
Taylor finished with a game-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and moved up two spots on Bradley's career scoring list, passing Dena Williams (1,030 points) and former teammate Devyn Flanagan (1,032 points). She enters Saturday's game with 1,046 career points and needs three points to pass Val Wancket for 11th on the all-time scoring chart. Taylor also had had six rebounds, three assists a block and two steals to highlight the victory.
Junior Leah Kassing (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) hit 5-of-6 shots and added 12 points, four rebounds and four blocked shots in a career-high 26 minutes, while Yohn collected 11 points. Bradley held Evansville to 31.5 percent shooting en route to the Braves third consecutive road victory in the series.
Blair led the Purple Aces in scoring with 15 points and also had game highs of seven boards and four steals. Samantha Heck was the only other player in double figures, finishing with 14 points.
Bradley plays its final road game of the season Saturday when the Braves visit Southern Illinois for a 4:30 p.m. game at SIU Arena. A free audio stream will be available at www.BradleyBraves.com
