PEORIA, Ill. -- Sophomore Whitney Tinjum (Stacy, Minn./Chisago Lakes/Washington State) scored 16 of her career-best 28 points in the first nine minutes to help the Bradley women's basketball team to a 20-16 lead, but Northern Illinois answered with a 20-3 run to go in front and the Huskies went on to top the Braves 67-54 Tuesday at Renaissance Coliseum.

Tinjum helped spark Bradley early on, netting 16 points in a near eight-minute span and gave her squad a 20-16 lead with 11:08 to play in the opening period on her second three-point play of the contest.  The Tinjum basket was the last for the Braves for seven minutes as Northern Illinois built a 36-23 lead with a 20-3 spurt which started off with 14 consecutive NIU points.

The Huskies held Bradley to just two field goals in the final 11 minutes of the first half and the Braves trailed 42-30 at the break.  Northern Illinois entered the game as one of the top defensive teams in the country holding opponents to an average of 54.6 points per game outing this season. 

Bradley's offensive struggles carried over into the second half, with NIU limiting the Braves to 4-of-22 shooting (18.2 percent) in the second stanza.  Despite the offensive struggles, Bradley was able to limit Northern Illinois to 31.3 percent shooting in the second half and the Braves made 14-of-16 second-half free throw attempts.  NIU forced 22 Bradley turnovers during the game, however, and owned a 32-14 edge in points off turnovers as the Braves fell 67-54 to wrap up the non-conference schedule.

Tinjum finished with a career and game-high 28 points in addition to pulling down a team-best nine rebounds.  She was a perfect 14-for-14 from the free throw line to join Stephanie White (15-of-15 vs. Western Illinois on Dec. 4, 1998) and Catie O'Leary (16-of-16 at Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Dec. 4, 2012) as the only players in program history to have a perfect night at the charity stripe with more than 12 made free throws.  Tinjum's 14 made free throws is tied for the fifth-best single game total in school history.

The final non-conference game of the season marked the return of freshman 6-2 freshman forward Tamya Sims (Milwaukee, Wis./Oak Creek) who missed the last eight games due to injury.  Sims had four points, six rebounds and three blocks in 24 minutes off the bench. 

Even with the return of Sims to the floor, Bradley was down to nine players in uniform with leading scorer Michelle Young (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) not available due to illness and freshman Haley Van Cleave (Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead) forced out the lineup due to injury. 

Amanda Corral led four NIU players in double figures with 18 points, while Danny Pulliam added 16 points and three assists.  Ally Lehman collected 10 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, with Renee Sladek also in double figures with 10 points. 

Bradley will open Missouri Valley Conference play Friday with a 7 p.m. home game against Northern Iowa at Renaissance Coliseum.  Fans purchasing a full-price ticket Friday can buy a ticket for a future women's basketball game at the group rate price.