PEORIA, Ill. -- Sophomore Nyjah White had career highs of 23 points and eight assists to go with nine rebounds to pace four Bradley players in double figures as the Braves posted an 82-68 victory over Western Illinois Tuesday at Renaissance Coliseum to improve to 7-0 on the season.
White was close to the first triple-double by a Brave in over 20 years, scoring 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting and also collected nine rebounds, eight assists, two blocks and two steals in 26 minutes. Freshman Lasha Petree led the way in the first half with 13 points and finished with 19 points on the day.
Junior Chelsea Brackmann turned in her second straight double-double and team-best third of the year with 12 points, 15 rebounds and three assists, doing the bulk of the damage in the second half with 10 points and nine rebounds after the break. Sophomore Gabi Haack also reached double figures for Bradley with 12 points.
Bradley improved to 7-0 on the year for the team's longest win streak since 2008-09 and is now 5-0 at home this season to mark the longest win streak in Renaissance Coliseum history. A crowd of 2,324 was on hand for BU's annual Field Trip Day presented by Prairie Farms, representing the fourth largest crowd in Renaissance Coliseum history and eighth highest attended home contest in program history.
The Braves led from wire-to-wire, scoring the first five points of the game during a 16-4 run to open the contest. White assisted a Brackmann hoop on the first possession of the game and Petree knocked down the first of her four three-pointers on the day to open the contest. White went on to score the next six Bradley points and another Petree three-pointer with 4:44 left in the first gave Bradley a 14-4 lead. Another White assist on a Vanessa Markert layup gave Bradley a commanding 16-4 lead six minutes into the tilt.
Western Illinois (3-6 overall) cut the lead to seven by the end of the first quarter, but an 8-2 Bradley spurt midway through the second which included a pair of baskets from both junior Ryan Wilkins and Markert extended the BU lead to 14 (37-23) nearing the three-minute mark of the second. The Braves led 41-29 at the half after holding the Leathernecks to 26.7 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
After playing just nine minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, White played 17 minutes in the second half and tallied 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the second half.
A 9-1 Bradley run, which included six points by White along with three points, four rebounds and an assist from Brackmann helped the Braves to their largest lead of the afternoon at 54-36 with 3:45 to play in the third.
BU's lead was 66-49 nearing the eight-minute mark of the third after White assisted a Haack layup before Western Illinois made a push. Bradley went 0-for-5 from the field with two turnovers during a three-minute stretch in which the Leathernecks scored on six of seven possessions to fuel a 14-2 WIU run.
Elizabeth Lutz sparked the spurt with a layup and three-pointer, while Olivia Kaufmann scored seven and capped the run with a three-pointer to cut the Bradley lead to five 68-63 with 5:41 to play.
White put a stop to the Western Illinois run with a jumper in the lane and would later score the final five points during a 7-0 Bradley spurt which pushed the led back to 12 (77-65) with 3:28 left on the clock. The lead never dripped under 10 down the stretch as Bradley remained undefeated on the year at 7-0 with the 82-68 victory.
Taylor Higginbotham led Western Illinois in scoring with 21 points, while Kaufmann (15) and Lutz (14) both joined in her double figures.
Bradley will have a break for semester finals before opening a three-game road swing Friday, Dec. 14 at Nebraska-Omaha in a noon contest in Omaha, Neb.