PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, before scoring on 12 of 14 possessions in the late stages of the game to pull within one point with 1:33 to play, but a Brittni Donaldson three-pointer gave Northern Iowa a four-point lead and the Panthers made 9-of-10 free throws in the final 47 seconds to hold on for an 81-77 victory Sunday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.

The Braves (9-19 overall, 3-11 MVC) got off to a slow start offensively shooting 34.5 percent from the field in opening 20 minutes.  Northern Iowa (15-11 overall, 11-4 MVC) took advantage of Bradley's struggles, building a 15-point lead first-half lead and the Panthers took a 39-26 advantage into the locker room.

The second half was a different story, however, with the Braves using an early 11-3 run to trim the UNI lead to five (48-43) with 13 minutes left to play.  Bradley outrebounded the Panthers 27-16 in the second half and shot 48.7 percent from the field after the break.

Northern Iowa pushed its lead back to double digits (55-45) near the mid-way point of the second on a Madison Weekly three-pointer. 

Sophomore Fansia Vine (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) had a three-point play with 9:21 left on the clock to open a stretch in which Bradley scored on 12 of 14 possessions.  Bradley chipped away at the UNI lead and senior Kelsey Budd (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie) made it a one-point game (59-58) with a steal and breakaway layup with 4:55 to play.

Brooke Brown answered with a three-pointer to make it a two-possession game (62-58) and UNI held a 69-64 lead with just over two minutes to play. 

Senior Kelly Frings (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) had a layup with 2:01 left and fellow senior Catie O'Leary (Janesville, Wis./Parker/Wisconsin) followed up a UNI miss with a jumper in the lane to once again trim the Panther advantage to one point (69-68) with 90 seconds remaining.

Northern Iowa's Brittni Donaldson knocked down the eighth three-pointer of the contest for the Panthers from the corner the next trip down the floor, however.  A pair of missed free throws by the Braves with 57.5 seconds left was followed by a pair of Donaldson free throws as UNI pushed its lead to six (74-68). 

O'Leary made a layup with 40.6 seconds left, but another pair of UNI free throws kept the margin at six (76-70) with 38.7 seconds on the clock.  Donaldson and the Panthers gave Bradley one last chance after splitting a pair of free throws with 28.1 seconds following an O'Leary three, but the teams traded free throws and UNI led 79-75 with 17.2 ticks left.  Budd made a driving layup with 12 seconds to play and Northern Iowa's Brooke Brown made two more free throws with 10.9 seconds to seal the 81-77 road win for the Panthers. 

Four Bradley players scored in double figures, with O'Leary pacing the Braves with 17 points and 12 rebounds for her team-best sixth double-double of the year.  O'Leary scored her 900th career point in the contest and collected 11 points and eight boards in the second half. 

Senior Alyson Spinas-Valainis (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption) came off the bench to match a career-high with 16 points for the second straight outing, while Budd added 15 points, four assists and two steals.  Budd also scored her 900th point in the loss.   Freshman Leti Lerma (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) scored a season-best 11 points and also had eight rebounds to help the Braves to a 45-34 rebounding advantage.

Brown led Northern Iowa with 20 points and six assists to lead three UNI players in double figures.  Jen Keitel added 17 points, 10 boards and four assists, while Hannah Schonhardt scored 10 points. 

Bradley opens the final road swing of the regular season Thursday with a 7:30 p.m. game at I-74 rival Illinois State.  Thursday's game against the Redbirds will be televised on WTVP World.