CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Bradley took an early double-digit lead at Northern Iowa, but the Panthers used a 25-5 late surge in the contest which featured 16 lead changes and eight ties to pull out a 78-65 victory against the visiting Braves Friday at the McLeod Center.

Junior Michelle Young (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) scored eight of team-high 21 points in the opening five minutes and helped (4-13 overall, 1-5 MVC) Bradley build a 16-5 advantage in the early stages of the contest.

Northern Iowa (9-9 overall, 5-2 MVC) chipped away at the BU lead and the teams were tied at 33-33 at the half.

The second half featured eight lead changes and three ties before the Panthers made a late push.  Junior Kelsey Budd (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie) found freshman Leti Lerma (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) underneath for a layup with 9:34 to play to give the Braves a 49-46 lead and Bradley was up 52-50 nearing the eight-minute mark on another Lerma layup.  She finished contest with a season-best 10 points and eight rebounds. 

Bradley went cold from the field, however, making just two of 10 shots and committing three turnovers on the next 12 possessions.  Northern Iowa capitalized, tying the game at 52-52 with a pair of Jen Keitel free throws.  Brooke Brown followed a Bradley miss with a three-pointer and the Panthers scored nine unanswered points to open a 25-5 run.

Senior Kelly Frings (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) hit a jumper with 5:48 and the teams traded three's as UNI's lead was 62-57 after a Fantasia Vine (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) triple.

Keitel started another UNI spurt with a layup and 13 consecutive Panther points, which included six from Keitel, pushed the Bradley deficit to 75-57 with 1:35 to play.  Vine added another three-pointer and Bradley ended the game with an 8-3 spurt, but the Panthers won their 10th consecutive home game in the series 78-65.

Young scored 16 of her team-best 21 points in the first half and also added six rebounds.  Budd started for the first time since Jan. 2 at Southern Illinois and finished with 11 points and five assists in 40 minutes of action.  Vine added 12 points and three assists, while Lerma had a team-high eight rebounds to go with her season-best 10 points. 

Keitel made 11-of-14 shots from the field and the 6-3 center finished with a game-high 25 points to pace UNI.  Brooke Brown connected on four three-pointers en route to an 18-point effort.  Hannah Schonhardt snagged a game-high 11 rebounds and also had 11 points, five assists and three steals to help lead the Panthers.

Bradley concludes a three-game road swing Sunday with a 2 p.m. game at Drake in Des Moines, Iowa.