Drake DRAKE 14-7, 9-0 MVC

Bradley BRAD 10-10, 4-5 MVC

Drake DRAKE

14-7, 9-0 MVC

Final

Jan. 28, 2018

Bradley BRAD

10-10, 4-5 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Drake DRAKE	17	22	20	25	84
Bradley BRAD	14	11	24	26	75

Box Score

Duane Zehr

Braves Put Scare Into League-Leading Drake

Box Score

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 1/28/2018 5:18:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- After falling behind by as many as 19 points in the first half Bradley Women's Basketball threatened to snap league-leading Drake's 30-game Missouri Valley Conference win streak by pulling within three points in the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs held off the Braves for an 84-75 victory Sunday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.

Senior Danielle Brewer scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the second half, while fellow senior Anneke Schlueter and freshman Gabi Haack each added 11 points after halftime to highlight the Bradley (10-10 overall, 4-5 MVC) rally attempt. Schlueter, who became the all-time leading scorer in Renaissance Coliseum history, finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Haack made 5-of-10 three-point attempts in a 17-point effort.

"We got the shots we wanted early in the game, we just couldn't knock them down," said second year Bradley head coach Andrea Gorski. "Then we started making them. We knocked down some three's early in the second half. You can't leave all those layups on the table like we did in the first half though and expect to beat a team like Drake."

Drake (14-7 overall, 9-0 MVC) led 17-14 at the end of the first quarter and the Bulldogs used a 12-0 run early in the second to build a 31-16 advantage less than four minutes into the frame. The Drake lead would later hit 19 points (37-18) on a Becca Hittner three-pointer with 4:38 to play in the first half before Bradley started chipping away.

Schlueter's jumper with 3:29 to play in the second started a 7-0 Bradley spurt as she broke Leti Lerma's Renaissance Coliseum career scoring mark of 480 points with the bucket. Freshman Nyjah White, who added 10 points off the bench, got free on the inside for a hoop and one of Haack's five three-pointers on the day cut the Drake lead to 12 at 37-25. The Bulldogs got a pair of free throws in the closing seconds of the period to snap a four-and-a-half minute drought and led 39-25 at the break.

Haack opened a second half in which Bradley would make 8-of-14 three-pointers with another triple, but Drake would answer with a basket and eventually pushed the advantage back to 16 points with 4:39 left in the third quarter.

Schlueter sparked an 8-0 BU run with a three-pointer as the Braves cut the lead in half (46-54) with 1:38 to play in the period. Brewer split a pair of free throws after the Schlueter trey and White had a layup. A Brewer fastbreak layup capped the spurt as Bradley trailed by single digits for the first time since early in the second quarter.

Drake was able to extend the lead back to double digits before the end of the third, however, and led 61-49 after a basket to start the fourth quarter. Schlueter went on to key a 12-3 Bradley run with eight points. She followed a Chelsea Brackmann layup with one of her own and chased a Drake free throw with a three-pointer. Haack added a pair of free throws as Bradley pulled to within four (62-58) with 8:15 left. After a Drake basket, Schlueter knocked down another three-pointer as the Bulldog lead was trimmed to just three (64-61) nearing the seven-minute mark.

Breni Rose scored seven of the next nine Drake points during an 11-2 run which pushed the Bulldog lead back to 12 (75-63) with 3:21 to play.

Bradley would try to mount one more late rally attempt. Brewer sandwiched a three-point play and a three-pointer around a Drake layup and Haack followed a Bulldog free throw with her fourth three of the contest as the Drake lead stood at 78-72 with two minutes on the clock.

Both teams came up empty on their next two possessions and a pair of Maddy Dean free throws with 32.4 seconds left once again made it a three-possession game at 80-72. Bradley failed to score on the next trip down the floor and Drake made 4-of-6 free throws in the final 25 seconds to hold on for the 84-75 victory.

Schlueter moved up one spot into 21st on Bradley's career scoring list, passing Des Moines, Iowa, native Ashley Chelleen (925 points) and now has 937 points. In addition, she became just the fifth player in program history with 100 career starts.

After shooting 28.6 percent in the first half, Bradley was 19-for-37 (51.4 percent) from the field in the second half including 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes.

Rose and Dean paced five Drake players in double figures with 16 points each to lead the Bulldogs.

Bradley continues a four-game home stand Friday with a 7 p.m. contest against MVC newcomer Valparaiso.

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