PEORIA, Ill. -- Sophomore Leti Lerma (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) scored 17 of her career and game-high 21 points in the second half to help fuel a Bradley rally attempt, but Southeast Missouri State held on to spoil the home opener for the Braves 70-65 Sunday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.

Bradley rallied from 18 points down last year to defeat SEMO in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and the Braves found themselves in a similar position after a slow start to Sunday's game which was the latest home opener for Bradley since 2002-03. 

The Braves made their first three shots from the field and led 6-4 in the opening moments of the contest after a Sameia Kendall (Kansas City, Kan./Raytown/Johnson County C.C.) layup.  The Kendall hoop was Bradley's last basket for a near nine-minute stretch, however, as Allyson Bradshaw scored eight points to highlight a 22-2 Redhawk run to put SEMO ahead 26-8 with just under eight minutes to play in the half.

After opening the game 3-for-17 from the field, Bradley warmed up to make 7-of-13 shots to close the half and chipped away at the SEMO lead.  Lerma had back-to-back layups and freshman Anneke Schlueter (Ulm, Germany/Max-Weber-Shule) capped an 11-1 Bradley run with a three-pointer to cut the Redhawks' lead to 27-19 with just under five minutes left in the period. 

SEMO led 36-24 at the half and was able to extend the lead back to as many as 14 points (43-29) with 16:22 to play before Bradley made a push.  Sophomore Charnelle Reed (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor/Western Illinois) hit a three-pointer and had five points during a 13-4 Braves' run which pulled Bradley within a point (49-48) midway through the period.  Lerma, who had six points in the first 25 minutes of the game, opened and closed the run with layups. 

The Redhawks were able to push the lead back to eight points (61-53) with 5:27 to play and SEMO owned a six-point lead (64-58) following a Jasmine Robinson three-pointer with 3:13 remaining. 

A Lerma hoop cut it to four and Schleueter pulled the Braves within three points (65-62) with a layup after a SEMO free throw with 1:35 left on the clock. 

SEMO made a pair of free throws with 23.6 seconds to push the advantage back to five (67-62), but Reed had a chance at a four-point play for the Braves after she was fouled on a corner three-pointer with 15.3 seconds left.  A scramble for the ball on the missed free throw by Reed gave Bradley possession trailing 67-65, but SEMO came up with a steal on the ensuing inbounds play and the Redhawks made 3-of-4 free throws in the final 9.1 seconds to seal the 70-65 road win.

Bradley shot 42.9 percent from the field on the afternoon, including 52.2 percent after the 3-for-17 start.  The Braves had just six first-half turnovers and finished with a season-low 10 turnovers.  Lerma scored a career-best 21 points on 9-for-12 shooting to lead three Braves in double figures.  Reed added a season-best 12 points off the bench and senior Michelle Young (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) had 11 points. 

Robinson and Yelena Rosado paced SEMO in scoring with 19 points each as they combined to make 11-of-16 shots.  Erin Bollman had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards off the bench for the Redhawks, who shot 54.8 percent on the day and outrebounded the Braves 36-27. 

Bradley continues an eight-game home stand Saturday with a 2 p.m. game against Missouri.