PEORIA, Ill. -- After a slow start to the game, Bradley made 11 of its final 15 shots to close the first half and cruised to a 79-58 victory against Missouri Valley Conference co-leader Indiana State Saturday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.  Sophomore Kelsey Budd (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie) hit her first five three-point attempts and finished with a game-high 25 points off the bench to pace the Braves.

Bradley (11-7 overall, 2-4 MVC) struggled early on, making just 3-of-16 shots to open the contest and trailed 18-6 midway through the first half.  Indiana State (10-7 overall, 4-1 MVC) entered the contest tied with Wichita State for first in the Valley standings and made 6-of-12 shots to open the game en route to an 18-6 Sycamore advantage midway through the first half before the Braves caught fire.

Junior Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) opened a 16-1 Bradley run with back-to-back three-pointers and Budd followed a Leah Kassing (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) hoop with her first three-pointer of the game.  Yohn had a steal and found Kassing for a quick basket as the Braves scored 13 points in less than three minutes to go in front 19-18 with six and a half minutes remaining in the first half.

An Indiana State free throw was followed by a Catie O'Leary (Janesville, Wis./Parker/Wisconsin) three-point play as the Braves took a 22-19 lead.  Budd knocked down two more three pointers in the final five minutes of the half and Kassing highlighted a 13-3 BU run to close the half with six points as the Braves took a 38-26 advantage into the locker room.

Budd entered the game with 17 points in the first five MVC games of the season, but scored 16 in the second half.  She added two more three-pointers in the opening minutes of the second period, but Indiana State was within 10 points at the 14-minute mark following a Brittany Schoen three. 

BU's lead 51-40 with 11 minutes to play when the Braves put the game out of reach with a 24-5 run over the next 6:30 of play.  Budd came up big in the final push, collecting seven points, two assists, a steal and one rebound during a four-minute stretch to help Bradley extend the lead to 75-45 with less than five minutes to go.  Bradley led by as many as 32 points in the second half and snapped a three-game home losing streak with the 79-58 victory.

Bradley was 27-for-50 from the field to close the game after the 3-for-16 start and finished the game shooting 45.5 percent from the field.  BU's season-low eight turnovers was the lowest total for the team since Feb. 17, 2007 and the Braves matched a season-best with 13 steals.

Budd connected on 6-of-7 three-point attempts and finished with a game-high 25 points in 24 minutes off the bench.  Kassing finished one rebound short of a double-double, collecting 18 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.  Yohn, who was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc, added 13 points and a game-high four assist.  She scored her 900th career point in the first half and moved into fourth in school history in three-pointers with her 150th career triple. 

Indiana State was giving up 58.8 points per game in league play and opponents averaged 56.8 points per outing in the last six games against the Sycamores.  Anna Munn scored a team-high 20 points and also had eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks to pace Indiana State.  Brittany Schoen scored 12 points in 26 minutes and Deja Mattox scored all 11 of her points in the first half.  Bradley held Indiana State's leading scorer Shannon Thomas, who was averaging 14.3 points per outing, to two points on just five shots. 

Bradley returns to action Friday, opening a three-game MVC road swing with a 7 p.m. game at defending MVC regular-season and tournament champion Northern Iowa.  The matchup with the Panthers will be televised live on Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports Indiana and Fox Sports Kansas City.