Women’s Basketball Hosts Eastern Illinois To Open Home Stand

Julie Kestas

Women's Basketball 11/27/2018 3:43:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Off to its best start to a season in almost two decades, Bradley Women's Basketball returns to Renaissance Coliseum to open a three-game home stand Wednesday with the Braves hosting in-state foe Eastern Illinois in a 7 p.m. contest.

Bradley (4-0 overall) is 4-0 to start a season for the first time since opening the 2001-02 season with a 9-0 record and just the third time in program history. The Braves are assisting with the American Marketing Association's annual Toy Drive and fans attending Wednesday's contest are encouraged to bring an unwrapped toy in support of the event.

Wednesday's game will be the first of the year for Bradley on ESPN+ (subscription required). Ed Hammond will handle the play-by-play on the WIRL 1290 AM radio broadcast. BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats along with the video and audio streams.

The series between the one-time Gateway Conference rivals is knotted at 19-19 after the Braves won 67-52 in Charleston, Ill., last year. The teams have traded wins in each of the last five meetings and Bradley is 5-2 in the last seven matchups. Eastern Illinois has won the last two games played in Peoria, but the Braves are 10-8 in home games against the Panthers.

Wednesday's matchup with Eastern Illinois (3-1 overall) is the second and final game of 2018-19 for Bradley against teams from Ohio Valley Conference. The Braves opened the season with an 85-79 home win over Southeast Missouri State. Bradley is 36-22 all-time against current members of the OVC, which includes a 10-4 mark in the last 14 games against the conference.

In addition to putting the longest win streak (4) since 2011-12 on the line, the Braves also own a three-game non-conference home win streak. Bradley is 6-1 in the last seven non-conference home contests dating back to the 2017-18 season opener. Overall, the Braves own an 8-4 home record against non-conference opponents under third-year head coach Andrea Gorski.

Bradley leads the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 56.2 points per contest. In fact, the Braves are second in the nation in three-point field goal percentage defense, with opponents shooting just 15.6 percent from beyond the arc (10-for-64). Overall, Bradley has held teams to a league-best 34 percent shooting from the field. The Braves have held three consecutive foes to 59 points or less, with the last time that occurring midway through the 2016-17 season. During that three-game stretch, foes have averaged just 48.7 points on 31.6 percent shooting.

Bradley's top three scorers are all underclassmen with sophomore Gabi Haack second in the MVC at 17.5 points per game, while freshman guard Lahsa Petree (14.8 ppg) sophomore Nyjah White (12.5 ppg) are both averaging in double figures. Bradley's freshmen and sophomores have combined for 216 points or just over 70 percent of the team's scoring through four contests. As a group the underclassmen are shooting 48.1 percent (74-for-154) from the field, including 25-of-64 (39.1 percent) from beyond the arc.

Haack was named MVP of the Florida Atlantic Thanksgiving Tournament after scoring a career-best 32 points in an 80-59 victory over tournament-host FAU in the championship game Saturday. Haack, who hit seven three-pointers in the victory, was the first Bradley player to score 30 points in a game since Michelle Young tied the Bradley single-game scoring record of 38 points almost four years to the day on Nov. 26, 2014 at Columbia.

Haack also tied a career-high 11 rebounds to turn in the first double-double for a Brave in a 30-point performance going back to Nov. 21, 2000 when Sara Bailey had 31 points and 11 rebounds against Eastern Illinois. She joined Erika Nelson (2003-07) and head coach Andrea Gorski (1988-92) as the only players in program history to seven or more three's in two different contests. In addition, Haack's 14 three-pointers through four contests are the most for a Brave through that point of a season since Michelle Lund was 16-for-35 from long range to open the 2008-09 campaign and she has more three-point makes (14) than Bradley's opponents to date (10).

Bradley will continue a three-game home stand Saturday with a 1 p.m. contest against first-time opponent Oakland. Saturday will be Kaboom!'s annual holiday party featuring a children's gift exchange, pictures with the Bradley mascot and a holiday card making station.

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Players Mentioned

#3 Gabi Haack: G; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#45 Nyjah White: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#3 Gabi Haack
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: G

#45 Nyjah White
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: F

Women’s Basketball Hosts Eastern Illinois To Open Home Stand

Players Mentioned

#3 Gabi Haack

#45 Nyjah White

Players Mentioned

#3 Gabi Haack

#45 Nyjah White