PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley women's basketball team closes out the regular season at home for the fifth time in the last six years, hosting Indiana State Saturday in a 2 p.m. game at Renaissance Coliseum. The game will be the final regular-season home contest for Bradley seniors Brooke Bisping (Morton, Ill./Morton) and Katie Yohn (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward), who will be recognized in a pre-game ceremony.
In addition to sending the seniors out with one more home victory, Bradley (14-14 overall, 8-9 MVC) will have a lot on the line Saturday with the Braves having a chance to finish in a tie with Indiana State (17-11 overall, 9-8 MVC) for fifth in the final Missouri Valley Conference standings with a victory.
Thursday's thrilling 71-69 win against I-74 rival Illinois State locked up at least a top-six finish for BU and Indiana State's loss at Northern Iowa last night makes Saturday's matchup a battle for the #5 seed in next week's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Charles, Mo. The Bradley - Indiana State winner will face #4 seed Northern Iowa next Friday at 2:30 p.m. in the MVC quarterfinals. The loser of Saturday's game will be the #6 seed and play #3 seed Illinois State next Friday at 8:30 p.m.
A subscription video stream and free audio stream will be available at BradleyBraves.com, along with a link for the live stats. WIRL 1290 AM's pre-game show will air at 1:40 p.m.
Bradley looks to avenge a 55-54 loss at Indiana State in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams back on Jan. 4. The Braves led by nine points with just under six minutes to play in the first meeting, but the Sycamores chipped away at the BU lead and went in front 55-54 on an Anna Munn three-pointer with 16 seconds left. Bradley's potential game-winning shot was after the buzzer.
The Braves have won seven of their last 10, with sophomore Michelle Young (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) scoring the game-winning hoop in Thursday's win against Illinois State with 1.3 seconds left. Young has scored in double figures in five consecutive games and is averaging 14.6 points per game on 61.2 percent shooting during that stretch.
Bisping assisted Young's game-winning hoop with a near three-quarter court baseball pass and has been a big reason for Bradley's recent success. The team captain has averaged 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game over the last 11 contests after missing the game at Drake on Jan. 25 due to injury. Bisping scored 11 points Thursday in the win and has scored in double figures in three of the last four games.
Yohn also had a hand in the final game-winning play Thursday night, blocking a potential game-winning Illinois State shot in the closing seconds. She had 12 points and 13 rebounds against the Redbirds for her team-leading sixth double-double of the year. One of only two players to rank in the top 10 in the MVC in rebounding, blocks and steals, Yohn is the first player in school history with 300 points, 175 rebounds, 60 assists, 20 blocks and 60 steals in a season.
