BOCA RATON, Fla. – Bradley Women's Basketball will be trying to claim its first in-season tournament title in a decade when the Braves face Florida Atlantic Saturday at 1:30 p.m. (CST) in the championship game of the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament.
The Braves reached the championship game of the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament with a 59-47 victory over Delaware Friday afternoon, behind a double-double from junior
Chelsea Brackmann who finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Tournament-host Florida Atlantic (2-3 overall) posted a 53-49 victory over Lafayette in Friday's other tournament game.
A subscription video stream of Saturday's game can be purchased through FAUSports.TV and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats for the first true road game of the season for the Braves. WIRL (1290 AM) will carry the game in the Peoria area and can be heard via the web at
https://www.superhitswirl.com/bradley-womens-basketball/
- Bradley is 3-0 to open a season for the first time since 2004-05 and the Braves will be shooting for their first 4-0 start to a season since opening the 2001-02 campaign with a perfect 9-0 mark.
- Friday's win over Delaware set Bradley up with a chance to win its first in-season tournament title since claiming the NAU Thanksgiving Classic in Flagstaff, Ariz., during the 2008-09 season. The 2008 NAU Thanksgiving Classic is also the last time the Braves posted wins on consecutive days.
- Bradley has claimed an in-season tournament in the state of Florida, winning a tournament hosted by Stetson during the 1993-94 season, which was the year following current Braves' head coach Andrea Gorski graduation from BU.
- Brackmann had her first double-double of the year with 14 points and 12 rebounds Friday against Delaware to push her team-best rebounding average to 10.3 per game on the year. Brackmann has five career double-doubles and 12 career outings with 10 or more rebounding, including two this season.
- Entering Saturday's matchup with Florida Atlantic, Bradley will be trying to claim its fourth victory before the end of November for the first time since 2012-13 when the Braves posted a 4-3 mark in the first month of the season.
- Saturday's game at Florida Atlantic marks Bradley first true road game of the 2018-19 season. The Braves have dropped their road opener in each of the last two years, but own a 4-3 mark in the first road game of the season over the last seven years. BU is 3-1 during that seven-year stretch when playing their first road game of the season outside the state of Illinois.
- Bradley has topped three consecutive non-conference opponents for the first time since 2012-13 and the Braves own a four-game non-conference win streak dating back to last season. The last time Bradley won at least four consecutive non-conference games in the same season was 2011-12, when BU capped the non-conference slate with five consecutive victories.
Bradley follows up the trip to Florida with a three-game home stand, which starts Wednesday, Nov. 28 against Eastern Illinois in a 7 p.m. contest at Renaissance Coliseum.
