PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley will play Southern Illinois in the final game of the regular season for the first time since the 1996-97 and the Braves will play their final home game of the year against the Salukis for the first time since 1991-92 Saturday when SIU visits Renaissance Coliseum for a 2 p.m. game.
Saturday's game will be the final home games for seniors Kelsey Budd (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie), Kelly Frings (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI), Catie O'Leary (Janesville, Wis./Parker/Wisconsin) and Alyson Spinas-Valainis (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption), who will be recognized prior to the contest.
The winner of Saturday's game will earn the #9 seed in next week's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and will face #8 seed Loyola next Thursday at 4 p.m. in the opening round.
Bradley (7-21 overall, 4-13 MVC) looks to rebound from a 73-55 loss to Evansville Thursday and will also try to avenge a 100-96 double-overtime setback at Southern Illinois to open the Valley slate back on Jan. 2. The Braves have won 11 of the last 12 in the series, including a six-game home win streak. Southern Illinois (5-23 overall, 3-14 MVC) holds an 18-12 advantage in games played in Peoria, but Bradley has won 10 of its last 12 home games against the Salukis.
A subscription video stream will be available at BradleyBraves.com, along with live stats and audio stream. The game will be broadcast in the Peoria area on WMBD 1470 AM/100.3 FM.
Junior Michelle Young (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) enters the final game of the regular season needing nine points to reach 400 this season. Young would be the first Bradley player to own a 400-point season before the start of their senior season since Sara Bailey in 2001-02 and would be the ninth individual in school history to score 400 points in a season prior to their senior year. She scored a team-high 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting Thursday against Evansville and has scored in double figures in back-to-back games.
O'Leary became the first player in program history to notch back-to-back seasons with 200 points, 200 rebounds and 50 or more assists after pulling down a game-high 12 boards Thursday vs. Evansville. She needs 13 points to become the first Brave since Carrie Coffman in 1994-95 to collect 300 points, 200 rebounds and 50 assists in a season.
Budd also enters the final home game of her career on the verge of joining another elite group. She dished out her 100th assist of the season Thursday and needs eight points and three rebounds to become the sixth individual in program history with 300 points, 100 boards, 100 assists and 40 or more assists in a season. Budd is three assists from passing Heather Best for seventh on Bradley's career assist chart.
Frings has returned to the floor after missing the final 13 games of the 2012-13 season due to injury, to average a career-best 10.0 points per game this season. She is also among the squad's top rebounders at 5.7 boards per game this year and is sixth in career free throw percentage at Bradley, shooting 79.6 percent from the charity stripe.
Spinas-Valainis has averaged 9.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in Missouri Valley Conference play. She has more than doubled her career scoring, rebounding and assist totals entering the year this season and has scored in double figures in eight of 13 home games this year.
After closing out the regular-season against Southern Illinois Saturday, Bradley will head to St. Charles, Mo., for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament March 13-16.
