PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley women's basketball team closes out its longest conference road swing of the year Saturday, facing Northern Iowa at 2 p.m. at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in the Braves third consecutive road game.
Bradley (10-12 overall, 4-7 MVC) snapped a seven-game road losing skid Sunday with a 75-55 win at conference leading Wichita State, handing the Shockers their first Missouri Valley Conference loss of the year. Both Bradley and UNI have won three of their last four games heading into Saturday's matchup, with the Braves sitting two games behind the Panthers in the standings.
Northern Iowa (11-12 overall, 6-5 MVC) won the first meeting with Bradley, holding on to edge the Braves 77-72 back on Jan. 18 at Renaissance Coliseum. UNI is opening a three-game home stand Saturday against Bradley as BU looks for its first win at the McLeod Center and is trying to snap an eight-game road losing streak in the series.
Bradley All-Access subscribers will be able to watch a video stream of Saturday's game and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to a free audio stream along with live stats. The WIRL 1290 AM pre-game show will start at 1:40 p.m.
Bradley has had four or more players score in double figures in each of the last three games, marking the first such streak since ending the 2008-09 season with three consecutive games in which four players finished with 10 or more points. Over the last four games, the Braves have scored 82.2 points per outing and reached 75 points in each of the last four contests. Bradley had not scored 75 points or more in four consecutive league games in the same season since the 1985-86 campaign.
Helping lead the offensive surge is senior Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward), who is coming off back-to-back double-doubles. Yohn averaged 18.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.0 block and 3.0 steals in Bradley's last two games and is shooting nearly 62 percent from the field in the last four outings. She had 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists at Missouri State last Friday for the most assists by a BU player with a point-rebound double-double since Tammy Van Oppen had a triple double against Southern Illinois on Dec. 31, 1996.
Sophomore Shronda Butts (Des Moines, Iowa/East) scored 29 points in her last trip to her home state last month when the Braves fell to Drake 66-62 in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 25. Bradley's leading scorer (13.2 ppg), Butts also averages a team-best 3.5 assists per game and is looking to become the seventh player in program history to lead the team in both categories in the same season.
Butts enters Saturday's contest needing seven assists to join Bradley Hall of Fame members Judy Burns and Heather Best as the only players in program history to collect 500 points and 150 career assists before their junior seasons.
Junior Catie O'Leary (Janesville, Wis./Parker/Wisconsin) finished one point short of matching her career-high scoring total in the season's first matchup with UNI in January. She scored 28 points on 11-for-18 shooting against the Panthers last month and also grabbed nine rebounds in the setback.
Following Saturday's contest, Bradley concludes the regular season with four of the final six games at Renaissance Coliseum, starting Thursday, Feb. 21 with a 6 p.m. home game against Drake.
