PEORIA, Ill. -- Freshman Lasha Petree scored 15 of her game-high 19 points in the first quarter and also came away with a season-best six steals on the night to help lead a balanced Bradley offense as the Braves wrapped up the non-conference portion of the schedule with an 89-59 victory over Chicago State Friday at Renaissance Coliseum.
Bradley (10-1 overall) earned its school record 10th non-conference victory of the season with the win and the team's 10-1 non-conference mark is the second-best non-conference record in program history behind only the 9-0 non-conference record by the 2001-02 squad.
The Braves scored the first five points of the game in less than 30 seconds with sophomore Gabi Haack opening the contest with a three-pointer and Petree following with a steal and breakaway layup. Bradley led 7-2 less than a minute into the game after a pair of Nyjah White free throws.
Chicago State managed to tie things up at 8-8 closing in on the seven-minute mark of the first quarter when Petree took over. She scored 13 points over the next 5:30 of play and also had a pair of steals during a 23-5 Bradley run which put the Braves comfortably ahead 31-13.
Bradley led 31-14 at the end of the opening quarter and quickly pushed the advantage to 20 points in the opening minutes of the second. The Braves extended the lead to 24 points at the end of the half (49-25) on a pair of Petree free throws. Bradley shot 54.5 percent from the field in second quarter and 49 percent in the first half.
A 13-3 Bradley run early in the third quarter put the game out of reach. White hit her first career three-pointer with a heave from the left wing to beat the shot clock to start the spurt. Freshman Tatum Koenig stole the Chicago State inbound pass and made a layup following the White triple. Junior Chelsea Brackmann chased a Chicago State free throw with a layup and added a put-back basket as Bradley extended the lead to 30 points (58-28).
Petree's final hoop of the night made it 60-30 in favor of the Braves and White capped the spurt with a layup as Bradley built a 62-30 advantage with 6:34 to play in the third.
Bradley held Chicago State to 27.5 percent shooting in the second half and cruised to the 89-59 victory.
Petree finished with 19 points and six steals, helping the Braves force 25 Chicago State turnovers and a season-best 18 steals. White was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field and finished with 15 points, two blocks and two steals in 18 minutes of action. Haack joined the par in double figures with 12 points in 16 minutes, while Brackmann nearly turned in her sixth double-double of the season (nine points & seven rebounds).
All 15 Bradley players saw at least eight minutes of action and seven Braves scored at least seven points. Freshman Ellie Spelhaug helped lead the Bradley reserves with season highs of seven points, 10 rebounds and four steals as the BU bench combined for 34 points.
Bradley opens Missouri Valley Conference play next Friday, hosting defending league champion Drake in a 7 p.m. game at Renaissance Coliseum.