PEORIA, Ill. -- Loyola's Taylor Johnson scored six of her game-high 29 points and also had an assist in the final four and a half minutes to highlight a 10-2 Rambler spurt to close the game as Bradley fell 67-54 in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams Sunday night at Renaissance Coliseum.

The Braves (4-8 overall, 0-1 MVC) fell behind early with Loyola (5-7 overall, 1-0 MVC) scoring the first eight points of the contest.  Bradley missed its first nine shots from the field and trailed 12-2 before junior Whitney Tinjum (Stacy, Minn./Chisago Lakes/Washington) had the first hoop for the Braves with 1:49 to play in the first quarter.  Tinjum scored five points and assisted a Danielle Brewer (Coatesville, Ind.) three-pointer during a 7-0 spurt which helped Bradley pull within five (14-9) after the opening 10 minutes. 

An 8-0 Bradley run midway through the second quarter, which featured an Anneke Schlueter (Ulm, Germany/Max-Weber-Schule) three-pointer, put the Braves in front 24-20 with just over two minutes to play in the period.  Loyola outscored the Braves 7-1 to close the half, however and took a 27-25 lead into the break after Taylor Manuel hit a jumper in the lane to beat the halftime horn. 

The Ramblers, which made their last three shots of the first half, opened the second half 8-for-8 from the field and quickly pushed the advantage to 41-29 less than four minutes into the stanza.  Manuel had a pair of three-point plays and assisted another hoop during a 14-2 Loyola run. 

Bradley chipped away at the Rambler lead the remainder of the third and trailed 52-45 heading to the fourth.  Neither team scored in the first three minutes of the fourth before a Tinjum basket made it a five-point Bradley deficit (52-47).  Johnson, who had 11 points in the fourth quarter, hit a long two-pointer and followed up a Bradley miss with a three-pointer to quickly extend the Loyola lead back to double figures (57-47) with just under six minutes remaining. 

Tinjum knocked down a three-pointer from the wing and sophomore Tamya Sims (Milwaukee, Wis./Oak Cree) had a layup with 4:50 on the clock after a pair of missed Loyola free throws to once again make it a five-point game (57-52). 

Bradley came up empty on its next four possessions, however, and Johnson took over for Loyola.  Johnson made a pair of free throws at 4:23 and assisted a Dakota Vann layup with 3:50 to play.  Another Johnson hoop nearing the three-minute mark was followed by a Brandi Segars layup as an 8-0 Rambler run pushed the lead to 65-52 with just over two minutes left. 

Brewer hit her third three-pointer of the night at the two-minute mark to end the Loyola run, but the Braves came up empty on their final three possessions of the night as the Ramblers opened MVC play with a 67-54 victory.

Loyola shot 60 percent in the second half and 48 percent in the game, while Bradley shot 32 percent in the contest.  Tinjum led the Braves with 15 points in 26 minutes off the bench, making 8-of-9 free throw attempts.  Brewer was 5-for-7 from the field, including 3-of-3 from three-point range as she scored a season-best 14 points. 

Johnson led Loyola with 29 points and six assists, while Manuel joined her in double figures with 17 points.  The duo combined to make 16-of-25 from the field and 13-of-16 free throw attempts.

Bradley opens a two-game MVC road swing Friday with a 6 p.m. game at Southern Illinois.