PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley makes its first trip to Minnesota since November 1998, taking on the Golden Gophers Sunday at 2 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.
The Braves (18-15 overall) rallied from 20 down and erased a 15-point halftime deficit to top Tennessee Tech 74-71 Wednesday in the opening round of the WBI at Renaissance Coliseum. The 20-point comeback was the largest for Bradley under head coach Paula Buscher and largest by the Braves since at least the start of the 1997-98 season. BU's largest come-from-behind win in the last 15 years was an 18-point rally in a 60-57 home win against Northern Iowa on Feb. 21, 1998.
Minnesota (16-17 overall) posted a convincing 80-51 home win against Charleston Southern Friday night at Williams Arena to reach the WBI quarterfinals. The Golden Gophers, who are 12-4 at home, have won two of their last three and four of seven overall.
Sunday's game will be the fifth meeting between Bradley and Minnesota and will mark the first time the two teams have met since the Braves posted a 56-49 win over the Golden Gophers at Robertson Memorial Field House. The series is tied at 2-2 with the home team each winning on their own floor. BU did win its last game at Williams Arena, however, topping Delaware 94-87 in the 1998 Golden Gopher Classic.
WIRL 1290 AM will carry Sunday's game in the Peoria area with the pre-game show scheduled to start at 1:40 p.m. Live stats and a free audio stream will be available at BradleyBraves.com
Bradley's bench helped fuel the team's rally Wednesday with senior Latasha Hollingshed (Bellwood, Ill./St. Joseph/Illinois Central), junior Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) and junior Brooke Bisping (Morton, Ill./Morton) combining for 40 of BU's 50 second-half points.
Hollingshed matched a career-high set last year against Illinois with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Yohn, who missed four of the previous seven games due to injury, made 4-of-7 three-point attempts and finished with her highest scoring output since Jan. 27 with 19 points off the bench. Bisping added 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting, scoring in double figures for the first time since her freshman season.
Overall, Bradley is 5-3 in its last eight games and the Braves have averaged 13.9 turnovers per game during their late season push. BU is 4-1 in the last five outings and has averaged 13.2 turnovers during that stretch.
Yohn enters Sunday's contest needing one point to become the 16th player in program history with 1,000 career points and could become the eighth Brave to reach the 1,000-point mark before the start of their senior season.
The winner of Sunday's game will advance to the WBI semifinals to face the winner of Sunday's quarterfinal matchup between #8 Manhattan and #4 Holy Cross.
