MOLINE, Ill. – Junior Leti Lerma (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) turned in her second consecutive double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, but #1 seed Northern Iowa blocked Bradley's potential game-winning shot in the closing seconds as the Braves fell to the Panthers 46-45 Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Tournament.

Playing near her home town, Lerma had eight points, six boards, an assist and a pair of steals in the first half to help Bradley to a 24-21 lead at the break.  The Braves held a 14-9 advantage after the first quarter, scoring the final six points of the period.

Bradley continued the run into the second quarter with Lerma and senior Kat Yelle (Geneva, Ill./Geneva/Ohio) getting baskets in the opening minutes to give the Braves their largest lead of the afternoon at 18-9 with 8:30 left.  The lead was eight (24-16) after a Tamya Sims (Milwaukee, Wis./Oak Creek) layup with 2:50 on the clock, before a scoring drought for the Braves allowed UNI to pull within three at the halftime buzzer. 

A three-point play by Lerma nearing the seven-minute mark snapped a near five-minute scoring drought for the Braves and put Bradley back in front 27-26.  The Lerma hoop was one of just two Bradley field goals in the third quarter, however as Northern Iowa used a 13-5 spurt to grab a 34-29 lead with two minutes to play in the stanza.  Senior Whitney Tinjum (Stacy, Minn./Chisago Lakes/Washington State) knocked down a three with 34 seconds to play in the third to cut the UNI lead to 36-34 heading to the fourth.

The Braves held Northern Iowa without a field goal for the first 4:35 of the fourth and led 40-37 before a Madison Weekly three tied the contest for the eighth time.  Lerma's second three-point play of the game put Bradley ahead at the midway point of the period, but a pair of Weekly free throws at 4:12 cut it to one and a Weekly layup with 3:22 left gave the Panthers a 44-43 lead. 

Weekly had two more free throws to make it a three-point advantage (46-43), when sophomore Anneke Schlueter (Ulm, Germany/Max-Weber-Schule) had a driving layup to once again pull Bradley within one (46-45) with just under two minutes. 

A Weekly jumper with 26 seconds left was off the mark and Bradley had a chance for the final shot of the contest.  UNI's Stephanie Davison blocked Lerma's pull-up jumper from the elbow with three seconds on the clock and a Panther rebound sealed the victory as Northern Iowa advanced to Saturday's 1:30 p.m. semifinal game against either Southern Illinois or Loyola.

Lerma's 13 rebounds were a Bradley MVC Tournament record and her 23 boards in the two games also set a school tournament mark.  She finished with a team-high 16 points to go with one assist and three steals.  Sims joined her in double figures with 10 points, while Yelle added seven points in the final game of her career.

Northern Iowa's 46 points were the fewest the Braves had surrendered in a MVC Tournament game and lowest of the season for the MVC regular-season champ.  The Braves held the Panthers to 31.1 percent shooting, which included just five second-half field goals on 23.8 percent from the floor.  UNI, which entered the contest averaging a league-high eight three-pointers, was 4-for-18 from long range.  Weekly was the only UNI player with more than five points, scoring a game-high 22 points.