CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Freshman Danielle Brewer (Coatesville, Ind.) scored a season-best 17 points and banked in a three with 17.7 seconds left to pull Bradley within four, but Northern Iowa made 14 three-point attempts in the game and held off the Braves down the stretch as the Panthers closed the regular-season with a 74-68 victory Saturday afternoon at the McLeod Center.

Bradley trailed by eight points nearing the seven-minute mark of the first period, before using a late 8-2 spurt to go in front.  A Whitney Tinjum (Stacy, Minn./Chisago Lakes/Washington State) layup with 1:12 to play in the frame gave the Braves a 29-28 lead.  Northern Iowa, which had its fourth game of the year with 14 or more three's, scored the final six points of the period, however, with Amber Sorenson knocking down a triple at the buzzer to give the Panthers a 34-29 lead at the break.

UNI made 6-of-18 three-pointers in the first half and the Panthers took advantage of 13 first-half Bradley turnovers to lead at halftime.

The Braves had five more turnovers in the first nine minutes of the second half and Northern Iowa was able to push the advantage to 13 points (45-32) with 15 minutes to play before Bradley made a push.

Sophomore Leti Lerma (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) hit her second three-pointer of the afternoon to pull Bradley within four (59-55) with 4:33 left, but back-to-back UNI hoops in the lane to beat the shot clock extended the lead back to eight (63-55) nearing the two-minute mark and a Stephanie Davison three with 1:26 later gave the Panthers a 66-57 edge with 1:26 left.

Junior Sameia Kendall (Kansas City, Mo./Raytown/Johnson County) made a pair of free throws with 1:17 remaining and Tinjum had two free throws of her own after UNI missed the front end of a one-and-one as the Braves were within five (66-61) with 53 seconds on the clock.

Madison Weekly made a pair of free throws for Northern Iowa and junior Fantasia Vine (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) raced down the floor for a layup to keep the deficit at five points.  Senior Michelle Young (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) had a steal in the backcourt and a pair of free throws with 40 seconds left to make it a one-possession game (68-65). 

After a quick foul, UNI made a pair of free throws and the Panthers added two more from the charity stripe after a Bradley miss to push the advantage to 72-65 with just under 30 seconds left. 

Brewer was 3-for-3 from three-point range after she banked in a triple from the left wing with 17.7 seconds to play as Bradley pulled with four (72-68), but the Braves had a turnover in the closing seconds and UNI made two more free throws to hold off Bradley 74-68. 

One of three Braves in double figures with 17 points, Brewer hit her first four shots and was 5-for-8 from the field.  Lerma added 15 points in 25 minutes, while Tinjum scored 12 points off the bench.  Bradley made its first 13 free throw attempts and finished the game 19-of-21 from the line (90.5 percent).  The Braves committed just two turnovers in the final 11 minutes and finished with 19. 

Freshman Tamya Sims (Milwaukee, Wis./Oak Creek) had nine rebounds and four blocks to help Bradley to a 40-36 rebounding edge and limit UNI to 36.4 percent shooting.  Young moved into the top 10 in Bradley history in steals in addition to climbing into 13th on the school's all-time scoring list.

Northern Iowa connected on eight of its 14 three-pointers in the second half.  Sorenson made seven of the UNI's three's, including four in the second half, and finished with a game-high 23 points.  Weekly added 19 points, while Davison had 14 points off the bench for the Panthers. 

Bradley will be the #8 seed in next week's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Charles, Mo., and will play #9 seed Loyola in the opening round Thursday at 4 p.m.