PEORIA, Ill. – Bradley Women's Basketball wraps up a season-long, four-game home stand and a stretch in which the Braves will have played six of eight at home Sunday afternoon with a 2 p.m. matchup against Southern Illinois at Renaissance Coliseum.
A 66-52 victory against Evansville Friday, snapped a four-game skid for Bradley and moved the Braves into a tie with Wichita State for eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. The 11 home games for the Braves is tied for the most in the MVC this season
Southern Illinois is fifth in the league standings at 6-4 after suffering an 83-59 loss at Loyola Friday. The 11 road games for the Salukis is tied for the most in the Valley this season and SIU's five true road wins ranks fourth in the Valley.
Notes | ESPN3 | WIRL 1290 AM/102.7 FM | Live Stats | Twitter Updates (@BradleySIDLive) | Tickets
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. In addition, BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats along with the WIRL 1290 AM/102.7 FM (www.1290wirl.com) radio broadcast with Ed Hammond providing play-by-play.
Bradley and Southern Illinois will meet on Super Bowl Sunday for the second straight year and the third time in seven seasons. The Braves will play on the day of the big game for the third consecutive season and sixth time in eight years. Bradley is 4-4 all-time when playing the day of the Super Bowl, including 2-1 at home.
Three Bradley players scored in double figures in Friday's 66-52 victory against Evansville, helping the Braves shoot a season-best 46.3 percent from the field and score the team's highest point total since a 68-60 home win against Kent State on Dec. 8, 2015.
Junior Leti Lerma (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) had game highs of 16 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while sophomore Tamya Sims (Milwaukee, Wis./Oak Creek) added 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting and three blocks in a reserve role in Friday's win. The Braves had two players come off the bench to score in double figures for the first time in 2015-16 (last time at Drake on March 5, 2015) and the last time Bradley had a pair of reserves score 10 or more in a home game was Feb. 21, 2013 (Drake).
Sophomore Anneke Schlueter (Ulm, Germany/Max-Weber-Schule) has connected on a Renaissance Coliseum season record 26 three-pointers this season after two more triples Friday against Evansville. She is averaging 12.3 points, 2.2 assists and 1.6 steals at home this season, scoring in double figures in eight of 11 home outings.
Sims is closing in on Bradley's career blocks list, needing one more rejection to move into a three-way tie for ninth in school history. She is also one block from matching her own Renaissance Coliseum season record for blocked shots at 20 set last year as a true freshman.
Bradley will close out the 2015-16 regular season with five of the final seven games on the road, opening the stretch Friday with a 7 p.m. game against defending MVC champion Wichita State.
