PEORIA, Ill. -- Fourth-year Bradley Women's Basketball head coach Michael Brooks and his Braves will play two exhibition games for the first time since 2010-11, opening the exhibition slate Sunday at 2 p.m. against NCAA Division II foe McKendree at Renaissance Coliseum.
Sunday's contest marks the first time Bradley and McKendree will face each other, but the Braves will play an exhibition game against a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference for the ninth time in 12 seasons. A familiar face will be on the visiting bench Sunday, with former Bradley assistant coach Kari Kerkhoff in her first season as head coach of McKendree. Kerkhoff was an assistant coach at Bradley for six seasons from 2006-07 through 2011-12.
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Tickets for Sunday's exhibition game are $8 for adults and $4 for faculty/staff and children. Little Braves Club members receive free admission to all Bradley women's basketball teams. Season tickets are still available at the Bradley Athletics Ticket Office. For more information visit - http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=131065&DB_OEM_ID=3400&DB_OEM_ID=3400
After having one of the youngest teams in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2014-15, Bradley boasts one of the most experienced rosters in the Valley despite returning just three upperclassmen from last year. The Braves return nine of 11 letterwinners from last season and the four returning starters are the most for Bradley since the 2011-12 campaign.
Bradley joins pre-season league favorite Missouri State, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois as the only teams in the MVC to return at least 65 percent of the team's scoring, rebounding and assists from the previous season.
Junior forward Whitney Tinjum (Stacy, Minn./Chisago Lakes/Washington State) is Bradley's top returning scorer after averaging 11.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in 22 contests last year. The Braves return two of their top three scorers and 10 of the top 12 in scoring from 2014-15. Tinjum had a team-best three double-doubles last year and averaged a team-best 10.9 points per game in Valley play.
Sophomore Tamya Sims (Milwaukee, Wis./Oak Creek) battled injuries throughout her freshman campaign last year, but was the first Bradley freshman to average 8.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and at least two blocks per game. She led the MVC in blocks and her 45 rejections last year ranked third among Bradley freshman marks in addition to ranking eighth among Bradley season totals. She averaged 11.2 points, 8.2 boards and 2.5 blocks per game over her final six outings.
Junior Leti Lerma (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) is Bradley's most experienced player, having started 31 of her 56 career games. Lerma averaged 7.1 rebounds over her last 14 appearances and finished her sophomore season second on the squad at 6.2 boards per game to go with 5.9 points per tilt.
In addition to the returning cast, Bradley welcomed two NCAA Division I transfers among the team's six newcomers. Guard Kat Yelle (Geneva, Ill./Geneva/Ohio) will be eligible at the start of the 2015-16 season after graduating from Ohio this past spring. A three-year letterwinner for the Bobcats, Yelle comes to The Hilltop for her final year of eligibility after averaging 2.7 assists with a 1.83 assist-to-turnover ratio last year as she helped Ohio to a 27-5 overall record along with Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament titles in 2014-15. Yelle added 6.4 points per game and shot 47 percent from the field last winter.
Bradley will play its final exhibition game Saturday, Nov. 7 against Missouri-St. Louis at 2 p.m. before opening the regular season Friday, Nov. 13 at Detroit. The home opener is slated for Sunday, Nov. 22 against 18th-ranked Oklahoma.
