PEORIA, Ill. -- Junior Leti Lerma (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) paced three Bradley players in double figures with game highs of 16 points and seven rebounds off the bench to help the Braves to a 66-52 victory over Evansville Friday night at Renaissance Coliseum.

The Braves found themselves in an early hole with Evansville's Sara Dickey hitting a trio of three-pointers to help the Purple Aces jump out to a 16-4 less than five minutes into the contest.  Lerma assisted a Whitney Tinjum (Stacy, Minn./Chisago Lakes/Washington State) layup and had a fastbreak hoop of her own to open a 12-0 Bradley run which tied the game at 16-16 nearing the two-minute mark of the first quarter. 

The 12-0 run was part of an eventual 21-2 spurt by the Braves which carried over to the second quarter and gave Bradley a 25-18 advantage with 6:34 to play in the second.  Sophomore Anneke Schlueter (Ulm, Germany/Max-Weber-Schule) helped highlight the 21-2 Bradley barrage with a pair of three's and scored eight during the stretch.  The Braves held Evansville to just one field during a near 10-minute stretch from midway through the first until halfway through the second period and eventually took a 28-25 lead into halftime. 

The Purple Aces pulled even in the opening minutes of the third quarter at 29-29, but Bradley answered with an 11-2 run.  Sophomore Danielle Brewer (Coatesville, Ind.) opened the spurt with a three-pointer and added a breakaway layup after an Evansville free throw.  Another Bradley three-pointer, this time by sophomore Madison Dellamuth (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie), came after another UE free throw, and a layup and free throw by Lerma capped the run which gave the Braves a 40-31 edge with 4:32 left in the period. 

Bradley forced eight Evansville turnovers in the third quarter and limited the Purple Aces to just three field goals in the stanza as the Braves took a 46-35 lead into the final 10 minutes.  Evansville went over seven minutes without a field goal before an Aaliyah Gaines layup with 6:44 to play cut Bradley's advantage to 50-39. 

Lerma helped the Braves answer with a breakaway layup and added a pair of free throws after a Sameia Kendall (Kansas City, Mo./Raytown/Johnson County) steal.  Sophomore Tamya Sims (Milwaukee, Wis./Oak Creek) gave the Braves their largest lead of the night at 56-40 with a layup closing in on five minutes to play and Bradley cruised to the 66-52 victory. 

Twenty seven Evansville turnovers helped lead to 26 Bradley points and the Braves scored 21 fast break points.  Lerma was 6-for-11 from the field in 25 minutes of action and led Bradley with 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals off the bench. 

Joining Lerma in double figures was sophomore Schlueter with 13 points and Sims with 12 points.  Schlueter added three assists and a career-high four steals.  Sims made 5-of-6 shots and finished with 12 points and three blocks off the bench as she and Lerma combined for 28 of Bradley's 36 points off the bench. 

The Braves had just 13 turnovers and shot a season-best 46.3 percent in the victory.  Bradley's 66 points was the team's highest total in almost two months (68-60 win against Kent State on Dec. 8) and the Braves held their opponent to under 60 points for the sixth time in seven outings. 

After making her first three shots from beyond the arc and scoring nine points in the first five minutes of the game, Dickey finished with 13 points to lead Evansville in scoring.  Camille Coleman added 11 points off the bench to help lead the Purple Aces.

Bradley closes out a season-long, four-game home stand Sunday with a 2 p.m. game against Southern Illinois.