PEORIA, Ill. -- Junior Whitney Tinjum (Stacy, Minn./Chisago Lakes/Washington State) had 17 points on 7-for-10 from the field and Bradley held Wichita State to 28.6 percent shooting as the Braves picked up their first Missouri Valley Conference victory with a 50-44 win over defending conference champion Wichita State Sunday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.

Bradley (5-11 overall, 1-4 MVC) tied a Renaissance Coliseum record with just 13 field goals, but made a season-high 20 free throws to hold off Wichita State (3-14 overall, 0-6 MVC) for the victory.  The 94 combined points are a Renaissance Coliseum record and the Braves pulled out a home victory when scoring 50 points or less for the first time since Dec. 8, 1976 (47-30 win over Illinois State). 

The teams were tied at 28-28 after three quarters of play, before Bradley was able to build a small advantage.  Sophomore Anneke Schlueter (Ulm, Germany/Max-Weber-Schule) provided the only scoring in the final 4:50 of the third period with a three-pointer nearing the three-minute to tie the score at 28-28.

Tinjum broke a tie with a three-pointer early in the fourth and sophomore Tamya Sims (Milwaukee, Wis./Oak Creek) assisted a Leti Lerma (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) breakaway layup after coming up with a steal on the defensive end as Bradley took a 35-30 lead closing in on eight minutes to play. 

Wichita State pulled within three points at 37-34 on a TaQuandra Mike jumper at 6:35 and Bradley's lead stood at four (42-38) with just under four minutes left following a Rangie Bessard put-back basket. 

Senior Kat Yelle (Geneva, Ill./Geneva/Ohio) gave Bradley a 44-38 advantage on the next trip down the floor with a driving layup late in the shot clock.  The Braves got three consecutive stops on the defensive end and a pair of Schlueter free throws with 1:22 left gave Bradley the largest lead of the contest at 46-38.

A pair of Bessard free throws pulled Wichita State within six and she added two more free throws after a Bradley turnover to cut the Braves' lead to 46-42 with 20.6 seconds on the clock. 

Sophomore Danielle Brewer (Coatesville, Ill.) made a pair of free throws with 9.6 seconds to play and Schlueter added two of her own in the closing seconds as Bradley snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 50-44 victory.  The Braves made their last six free throw attempts and finished the day 20-for-25 from the charity stripe.  

The 44 points scored by Wichita State matched the fewest by a team in Renaissance Coliseum history and were the fewest by a MVC opponent for the Braves since posting an 80-44 home win against Southern Illinois on Jan. 21, 2011. 

Tinjum had seven of Bradley's 13 baskets, connecting on 7-of-10 from the field en route to her team-high 17 points.  She also had six rebounds in 28 minutes.  Schlueter joined her in double figures with 11 points, while Yelle dished out four assists and pulled down a team-best seven rebounds. 

Bessard led Wichita State with game highs of 27 points, 18 rebounds and three steals in 39 minutes.  She collected nine offensive rebounds and was perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. 

Bradley opens a two-game MVC road swing Friday with a 7 p.m. contest at I-74 rival Illinois State.