The Bradley Women's Basketball team will have a new look in 2014-15, returning just three letterwinners from the 2013-14 squad. Joining a returning cast which includes honorable mention All-MVC recipient Michelle Young will be a group of nine newcomers.
Third-year head coach Michael Brooks talked with Dave Snell about the 2014-15 campaign.
Recapping 2013-14
• The Braves were 8-22 overall and finished ninth in the MVC standings with a 5-13 league mark.
• Bradley played a school season record 12 games decided by five points or less and finished the year 6-6 in those contests. The six victories by five points or fewer was one short of matching the school record of seven set during the 1991-92 season.
• The only team in the MVC to have four individuals score 9.9 points per game or more in 2013-14, Bradley had three individuals with 300 or more points in a season for the first time since 2006-07. The 2013-14 season saw six Braves average at least 8.1 points per contest. The only other team in school history to have six individuals average 7.5 points per game or more was the 1984-85 squad.
Individual Notes
• Kelsey Budd was the third player in school history with 900 career points, 300 rebounds, 325 assists and 150 steals. She was one of three players in the MVC to rank in the top 20 in the league in scoring and top 10 in both assists and steals. A Second-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete, Budd finished her career sixth in school history with 341 career assists.
• Michelle Young led the MVC in free throws made, averaging 4.6 per game. She was an honorable mention All-Valley performer and a First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete as a junior. Her team-best 14.3 points per game average was seventh in the Valley and best by a Brave since 2001-02.
• Kelly Frings returned to the lineup after a torn ACL forced her to miss the final 13 games of the 2012-13 season and averaged 9.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in her final season on The Hilltop.
• Catie O'Leary finished her Bradley career with 966 points to rank as the top scoring transfer in program history. She was the only player in the MVC with 300 points, 200 boards and 50 assists in 2013-14 and was the first Bradley player with those numbers since 1994-95. O'Leary was an honorable mention MVC Scholar-Athlete
• Leti Lerma earned a spot on the Valley's All-Freshman team after averaging 9.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game in the final seven regular-season contests. She was ninth in the MVC in rebounding in league games.
• Center Alyson Spinas-Valainis averaged career highs of 8.9 points and 5.4 rebounds, but was better in MVC play at 9.3 points and 5.6 boards. She closed the year averaging 11.6 points per outing over her final nine contests.
Leading the Pack
• Part of Bradley's offensive success in 2013-14 came from the team's ability to get to the free throw line. In addition to ranking second in the MVC in free throw percentage (72.6%), the Braves made a school season record and Valley best 512 free throws. Bradley scored a league-high 24.5 percent of its points from the charity stripe.
• Michelle Young led the MVC in made free throws, with her 137 makes ranking as the third-best season total in school history.
Looking Ahead
• Senior Michelle Young, junior Fantasia Vine and sophomore Leti Lerma are the only returning letterwinners for the Braves in 2014-15.
• In addition to Young and Lerma's exploits, Vine was Bradley's top three-point threat in 2013-14 and averaged 9.8 points and 3.6 rebounds over her final 20 outings last year before a season-ending injury late in the season.
The Newcomers
• Bradley's 2014-15 roster includes nine newcomers for the largest incoming class for the Braves since welcoming nine newcomers for the 2001-02 season.
• Despite the nine new faces on the bench, three individuals have collegiate experience with a pair of NCAA Division I transfers and a junior college transfer among the group.
• Western Illinois transfer Charnelle Reed sat out the 2013-14 season and will be eligible at the start of the year after averaging 8.5 points per game and shooting 40.2 percent from three-point range as a freshman in 2012-13. Reed has three years of eligibility remaining.
• Washington State transfer Whitney Tinjum will be eligible following the 2014 Fall Semester. The 6-1 forward played in 12 games as a freshman at Washington State. The four-time North Suburban Conference Player of the Year is the career scoring and rebounding leader at Chisago Lakes High School in Minnesota.
• Sameia Kendall earned honorable mention WBCA All-America honors at Johnson County Community College as a sophomore in 2013-14 and the 5-8 guard helped her junior college to back-to-back 30-2 seasons.
• Six freshmen will also compete for playing time in 2014-15 with 5-10 forward Danielle Brewer, 5-8 guard Shareece Burrell, 5-6 guard Madison Dellamuth, 6-0 guard Anneke Schlueter, 6-2 forward Tamya Sims and 6-3 center Haley Van Cleave joining the squad.
