Box Score ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Junior Leah Kassing (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) helped Bradley build an early lead, but regular-season Valley champion Northern Iowa ended the first half on a run and the Panthers made eight second-half three-pointers to pull away for an 87-57 victory against the Braves Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Playing its second game in less than 24 hours, Bradley (15-16 overall) got off to a hot start, scoring the first seven points of the game. The Braves got the ball inside early on with Kassing collecting 10 and six rebounds in the first 10 minutes of the contest before picking up her second foul.
Kassing had a pair of put-back baskets and freshman Kelly Frings (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) hit a three to highlight a 7-0 spurt which gave Bradley an 18-10 lead midway through the opening half. With Kassing already on the bench with two fouls, junior MacKenzie Westcott (Williamsburg, Iowa/Williamsburg) picked up her second foul of the contest at the seven-minute mark.
Northern Iowa's (25-5 overall) K.K. Armstrong took over down the stretch, scoring seven points to highlight a 21-4 spurt which put the Panthers in front 33-24. The Braves scored six points in the final nine minutes of first half and UNI took a 38-26 lead into the locker room.
The Panthers opened the second half with three consecutive three-pointers to open a 16-4 run and pushed the lead to 54-30 in the opening minutes of the period. The Panthers hit 6-of-8 three pointers in the opening 8:10 of the second half and made 8-of-11 three-point attempts (72.7 percent) in the final 20 minutes. Northern Iowa shot a blistering 63 percent from the field after the break and cruised to the 87-57 win.
Kassing made 5-of-6 shots from the field and finished with 15 points and seven rebounds to pace the Braves. Senior Raisa Taylor (Decatur, Ill./Eisenhower) collected 11 points, four boards, four assists and two steals in her final game as she became the fifth player in program history to lead the team in scoring and assists in the same season.
Sophomore Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) added 10 points and pulled down seven boards to help Bradley to a 41-33 edge in rebounding.
Armstrong led UNI in scoring with a career-best 26 points off the bench, making 4-of-7 three-pointers. Katelin Oney connected on 4-of-5 three-point attempts and finished with 14 points, while MVC Player of the Year Jacqui Kalin had 13 points, six assists and three steals.
Bradley's lone senior, Taylor finished her career 10th on Bradley's career scoring list with 1,133 points and holds the Bradley career record for free throws made (348) and attempted (520). She tied Kelly Krumwiede and Ashley Chelleen for the BU career record for games played, appearing in the 119th contest of her career.
