Bradley BRAD 9-1

Purdue PURDUE 9-4

Bradley BRAD

9-1

Final

Dec. 21, 2018

Purdue PURDUE

9-4

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Bradley BRAD	10	19	20	12	61
Purdue PURDUE	29	23	10	12	74

Box Score

Duane Zehr

Women’s Basketball Streak Snapped At Purdue 74-61

Box Score

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 12/21/2018 1:34:00 PM

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Bradley battled back to trim a 27-point second-half deficit to seven early in the fourth quarter, but the Braves suffered their first loss of the season with Purdue holding on for a 74-61 victory Friday afternoon at Mackey Arena as the Boilermakers snapped a nine-game win streak for BU.

Bradley (9-1 overall) entered the game as one of 11 undefeated teams in the nation and had matched the best start in program history at 9-0, before suffering the loss to the Boilermakers (9-4 overall).

Sophomore Gabi Haack scored a team-high 22 points, including 13 in the second half, to pace four Bradley players in double figures. Junior Chelsea Brackmann turned in her fifth double-double of the year with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while sophomores Nyjah White and Jailynn Lawson each had 10 points apiece.

"Purdue is a very physical team and they hit us pretty hard in the second quarter," said Bradley head coach Andrea Gorski. "I'm proud of the way we got off the mat to battle back.

"I think some of our length bothered them in the second half," added Gorski. "Nyjah (White) had some foul trouble in the first half, but provided a big boost in the second half. Chelsea (Brackmann) was able to put up another double-double up against one of the top post players we will see all season and Gabi (Haack) was able to knock down some shots to start the second half."

Bradley battled through some early foul trouble after White picked up a pair of fouls in the opening two minutes. A Shunseere Kent driving layup tied things up at 10-10 with 4:38 left in the first. Purdue answered with a quick hoop on the other end, however, and scored the final 19 points of the period to take a 29-10 lead at the end of the first.

The Braves had trouble keeping pace with a hot-shooting Purdue team, which made 19-of-27 from the field to open the game, including 6-of-8 from three-point range. The Boilermakers built a 52-29 lead at the half.

Purdue cooled off to start the second-half, making just 2-of-17 to start the period and Bradley took advantage by going on a 12-0 run to cut the Boilermaker lead to 58-44 closing in on one minute to play in the frame.

Haack, who scored 11 points in the third, got things started with a three-pointer. Lawson, who had a career-high 10 points to go with four assists, had a hoop in the lane and followed a defensive stop with a three-pointer out front. Brackmann got free on the inside for her first basket of the second half and White capped the spurt with a 17-footer. The Braves managed to trim the deficit to 13 points (62-49) heading to the fourth on a Haack two-point buzzer beater.

The momentum carried over to the fourth quarter, with Bradley scoring the first six points of the period. White hit another jumper and Haack added a basket. A steal and breakaway layup by freshman Lasha Petree pulled the Braves within seven at 62-55 with 7:40 left.

Purdue was scoreless for the first 4:30 of the fourth, before a Dominique Oden jumper ended the drought for the Boilermakers and pushed the lead back to nine (64-55). Bradley would later get back within seven at 68-61 nearing the two-minute mark on back-to-back White hoops after Purdue was able to push the lead back to double digits.

The White basket was the final points of the game for Bradley, however, as Purdue made its next six free throws to extend the lead back to double digits (74-61) and hang on for the victory.

Purdue was 6-of 38 shooting in the second half after a 20-for-30 first half and did not make a three-pointer after the halftime break. Karissa McLaughlin led the Boilermakers with a game-high 23 points. Ar'Rianna Harris and Oden each added 14 points, with Harris hauling down a game-high 13 rebounds to help Purdue to a 44-36 rebounding advantage.

Bradley will have a week off before closing out the non-conference schedule next Friday (Dec. 28), hosting Chicago State in a 7 p.m. game at Renaissance Coliseum.

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