PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley hit seven first-quarter three-pointers, racing out to a a 29-8 lead just 10 minutes into the game and never looked back in a 79-40 exhibition victory over Upper Iowa Saturday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum. Newcomers accounted for 42 of Bradley's 79 points, paced by freshman guard
Jailynn Lawson's (Peoria, Ill./Central) game-high 15 points and five assists.
While Lawson was the high scorer in the contest, freshman
Gabi Haack (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) helped highlight Bradley's 29-point first quarter with three of her four three-pointers in the opening period. Haack finished with 12 points in 17 minutes off the bench to join Lawson in double figures.
Junior Vanessa Markert (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) got the scoring started for Bradley with a three-pointer in the opening minute and junior transfer Shunseere Kent (East Point, Ga./Hapeville Charter/East Georgia State) later followed up a layup with a steal and another hoop as the Braves jumped out to a 7-2 lead less than three minutes into the game.
Upper Iowa's only field goal of the first quarter came at the 6:09 mark, only to have Lawson spark a 16-0 run by the Braves with a three-pointer. Kent assisted a Chelsea Brackmann (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower) layup and back-to-back Haack three's pushed the lead to 18-5. Brackmann came up with a steal and hit a three of her own to make it a 16-point cushion. Freshman Nyjah White (Columbia, Mo./Hickman) had a breakaway layup after a steal and Haack capped the spurt with her third three in a near three-minute span as Bradley built a 26-5 advantage.
The Braves held Upper Iowa scoreless for almost six minutes to start the second quarter and scored the first eight points of the period to extend the lead to 37-8 nearing the midway point of the stanza. Haack's fourth three-pointer of the night made it a 30-point lead (40-10) with 2:54 in the period. Bradley limited the Peacocks to just two points in the second en route to a 42-10 halftime lead as the Braves shot 57 percent (17-for-30) from the field in the first 20 minutes and were 8-for-14 (57 percent) from beyond the arc.
Bradley extended the lead to as many as 42 points in the third quarter and led 62-20 heading to the fourth as the Braves cruised to the 79-40 victory.
Thirteen players scored for Bradley, led by Lawson's 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting. She also dished out five assists and had a steal in 23 minutes of action. Haack finished 4-for-7 from three-point range and had 12 points off the bench. Brackman tallied nine points, six boards, two assists and two blocks in 16 minutes of action off the bench, while Markert played 20 minutes and collected eight points, six rebounds and three rejections.
In addition to the 42 points, Bradley's six newcomers combined for 13 rebounds, 10 assists and seven steals. Bradley's 13 three-pointers would have been one short of the school record for trey's in a game of 14 set at Western Michigan on Dec. 20, 1998.
Defensively, the Braves held Upper Iowa to 21 percent shooting in the contest, which included 13 percent (4-for-31) through the first three quarters. The Peacocks were able to do some damage from the free throw line, however, taking advantage of 28 Bradley fouls and made 20-of-31 free throws. Blair Klostermann led Upper Iowa with seven points off the bench.
The Braves will open the 2017-18 regular-season schedule Friday with a 7 p.m. home game against Nebraska-Omaha at Renaissance Coliseum.