PEORIA, Ill. -- After splitting a pair of road games to open the 2015-16 season, Bradley Women's Basketball returns to Renaissance Coliseum to take on #17/24 Oklahoma in the home opener for the Braves. Bradley will face the Sooners in a 2 p.m. contest Sunday afternoon to kick off a three-game home stand.
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Oklahoma (2-1 overall), which is ranked 17th in the latest Associated Press poll and 24th in the USA Today Coaches Poll, is 2-1 on the year after posting a 73-47 victory over BYU Thursday in Norman, Okla. The Sooners have been to 16 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including three Final Fours, and reached the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament.
Bradley (1-1 overall) opened the season with a 75-67 win at Detroit last Friday for the first season-opening road victory for the Braves since 2002-03. Sunday's game against Oklahoma is the first of a three-game home stand and opens a stretch in which Bradley will play five of the next six at Renaissance Coliseum.
The first 500 fans in attendance Saturday will receive free thundersticks.
Sunday's game will be available on ESPN3 as part of The Valley On ESPN3 and can be viewed through WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app with Spencer Siegel and former Bradley standout Leah (Kassing) Zeitler calling the action. BradleyBraves.com will provide a link to live stats and Ed Hammond will provide play-by-play on WIRL 1290 AM/102.7 FM (www.1290wirl.com) on the radio broadcast.
Tickets 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
Oklahoma is the first ranked team to visit Renaissance Coliseum and Bradley has not played a home contest against a ranked squad since then 13th-ranked Missouri State played at Robertson Memorial Field House on Feb. 16, 2001. The last non-conference home matchup against a ranked team was Dec. 30, 1993 vs. then 17th-ranked Purdue.
The Sooners are also the first Big 12 team other than former conference member Missouri to play in Peoria since Kansas State on Nov. 24, 1996. The last home game against a Big 12 squad was during the 2009-10 season when the Braves played their home games at Illinois Central College while Renaissance Coliseum was under construction and Sunday's outing will mark the first on-campus home game against a Big 12 foe since 2003-04 (Missouri).
Bradley has a 28-12 (.700) record in home openers, including a 5-2 mark in the last seven. The Braves are 3-1 at Renaissance Coliseum against teams from “Power 5” conferences and have won the last three such matchups with the lone loss against Illinois on Nov. 19, 2010 in just the second game in the facility.
After struggling from beyond the arc last season, Bradley shot better than 30 percent from three-point range in each of last week's road games. In fact, the team's 10 three-pointers Sunday at Bowling Green were the most in a game for the Braves since hitting 11 at Missouri State on Feb. 8, 2013 and Bradley has consecutive outings with seven or more three's for the first time since Nov. 2012 (wins at Eastern Illinois & Illinois).
The Braves have also taken care of the ball early on, averaging 12.5 turnovers through the first two outings. Bradley is coming off a 10-turnover outing, which ranks as the fewest turnovers in a game in over three years. Ohio transfer Kat Yelle (Geneva, Ill./Geneva/Ohio) is dishing out a team-best 4.5 assists per game and owns a 3.00 assist-to-turnover ratio. She is also adding 6.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game through her first two appearances on The Hilltop.
Freshman Gabby Green (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) made her first career start Sunday at Bowling Green and scored a game-high 17 points. Green has made 4-of-9 three-point attempts and is scoring 12.0 points per game along with dishing out 3.5 assists per contest.
Junior Whitney Tinjum (Stacy, Minn./Chisago Lakes/Washington State) turned in a double-double in the season opener (21 points & 10 rebounds). She leads the team in scoring (13.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg) heading into the home stand.
Bradley will continue the three-game home stand Tuesday with a special 11 a.m. contest against Western Michigan at Renaissance Coliseum. The Braves will host approximately 1,000 area school children for the annual Kids Day game, with each student receiving a workbook with puzzles, games and word problems which focus on leading a healthy lifestyle, nutrition, character building and dealing with bullying.
