Box Score CARBONDALE, Ill. - Bradley used a 15-0 run early in the first half and never looked back as the Braves cruised to a 76-60 victory at Southern Illinois Saturday afternoon at SIU Arena. Senior Raisa Taylor (Decatur, Ill./Eisenhower) made a career-best 13 free throws and finished with a team-high 17 points.
With the victory, the Braves (13-13 overall, 6-9 MVC) claimed their sixth consecutive game in the series and fourth straight road game against SIU.
Southern Illinois (2-23 overall, 0-14 MVC) held a 9-8 advantage when freshman Kelsey Budd (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie) opened a Bradley run with a pull-up jumper in the lane and later hit a three-pointer to highlight a 15-0 BU run which put the Braves in front 23-9.
A MacKenzie Westcott (Williamsburg, Iowa/Williamsburg) steal and layup gave Bradley a 37-17 advantage with six and a half minutes to play in the period and the Braves extended the lead to as many as 22 points (46-24) on a put-back basket by junior Latasha Hollingshed (Bellwood, Ill./St. Joseph/Illinois Central) in the final minute of the half.
The Braves shot 51.5 percent from the field and scored 17 points off 15 SIU turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play en route to a 47-28 lead at the break.
Bradley made just four field goals in the second half, but made 20-of-26 second-half free throw attempts to hold off the Salukis. The Braves matched their biggest lead of the game at 61-38 after a Westcott three-pointer with 13 minutes to play, before going cold from the field.
BU managed just two field goals in the final 13 minutes of action and SIU used a 13-1 run to pull within 11 points (62-51) with just under six minutes to play. The Salukis got no closer, however, as the Braves scored six straight points to put the game out of reach.
Taylor moved into 11th on Bradley's career scoring list, passing Val Wancket (1,048 career points) with her 17-point effort, pushing her career total to 1,063 points. She also became the all-time scoring leader in series history for BU, surpassing Heather Best's previous mark of 115 points scored against SIU.
Sophomore Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) made three of six three-point attempts and finished with 13 points, eight boards, three assists and two steals, while Budd added 10 points off the bench.
In addition, Taylor's 13 made free throws is tied for the third best total in program history and are the most for a Bradley since Stephanie White made a school record 15 free throws against Western Illinois on Dec. 4, 1998.
Taylor also became Bradley's career leader in free throw attempts, breaking Karin Nicholls previous mark of 480 attempts. She also matched a program record she already shared with Tammy Van Oppen and Val Wancket for free attempts in a game with 17 shots from the charity stripe.
Katrina Swingler paced Southern Illinois with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Brooke LeMar added a career-high 12 points. Jordyn Courier also reached double figures, scoring 11 points off the bench.
Bradley returns to action Friday, welcoming league-leading Northern Iowa to Renaissance Coliseum for a 5:35 p.m. game. The game against the Panthers will be televised live on Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports Kansas City and Fox College Sports in addition to airing on tape-delay basis at 2 a.m. on Feb. 26 on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.
