PEORIA, Ill. -- After a sluggish first half which saw Bradley trail by as many as 20 points, head coach Paula Buscher turned to her reserves in the second half and the BU bench responded by scoring 40 of 50 points after the break to help power the Braves to a 74-71 comeback win against Tennessee Tech in the opening round of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) Wednesday at Renaissance Coliseum.

Senior Latasha Hollingshed (Bellwood, Ill./St. Joseph/Illinois Central) matched a career-high with 21 points off the bench, scoring 15 points in the second half.  After missing four of the last seven games, junior Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) made 4-of-7 three-pointers to finish with 19 points for her highest scoring output since Jan. 27.  Junior Brooke Bisping (Morton, Ill./Morton) also helped the Braves erase a 15-point halftime deficit, collecting all 11 of her season-high points in the second half. 

Bradley (18-15 overall) struggled from the field in the early going, making 5-of-21 to open the contest; while Tennessee Tech made four of five three-pointers and shot 65 percent over the first 11 minutes.  The Golden Eagles (17-17 overall) used a 14-2 run to jump out to a 30-14 lead nearing the six-minute mark of the first half and later extended the lead to 20 (39-19), before Bradley scored the final five points of the period to cut the deficit to 39-24 at the break.

Trailing 54-40 with 12 minutes to play, Bradley made a big push with Yohn following three-point plays by Hollingshed and Bisping to highlight an 11-2 run which pulled the Braves within five (56-51) with 8:42 to play. 

BU pulled even at 60-60 nearing the six-minute mark on a Hollingshed put-back hoop, but Tennessee Tech went back up five (62-67) on a three-point play by Rachel Glidden before another Bradley run.  

The Braves answered with 10 straight points and took its first lead (68-67) since the opening moments of the game on a Catie O'Leary layup with 3:18 to play.  A Bisping layup with 2:12 on the clock gave BU a 70-67 advantage and another Bisping hoop put Bradley in front 72-67 to cap the spurt. 

With Bradley leading 72-69 and under one minute to play, Bisping came up with a steal and a pair of Kelsey Budd (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie) free throws with 30 seconds pushed the lead back to five (74-69).

Jala Harris made a driving layup for Tennessee Tech with 24 seconds to play to make it a one possession game (74-71), but Bradley got two stops in the closing seconds and the Golden Eagles three-point attempt at the buzzer was short as the Braves advanced to the quarterfinals of the WBI for the second time in three years. 

Bradley committed three second-half turnovers and shot 54.5 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.  The BU reserves combined for 51 points, including 40 of Bradley's 50 second-half points.  Sophomore Catie O'Leary (Janesville, Wis./Parker/Wisconsin) was the only Bradley starter in double figures, finishing with 12 points and game highs of six assists and four steals. 

Bradley will play the winner of Friday's WBI opening round game between Minnesota and Charleston Southern.