Bradley BRAD 11-3, 1-2 MVC

Evansville UE 2-12, 0-3 MVC

Bradley BRAD

11-3, 1-2 MVC

Final

Jan. 11, 2019

Evansville UE

2-12, 0-3 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Bradley BRAD	13	14	25	23	75
Evansville UE	12	19	15	22	68

Box Score

Duane Zehr

Braves Top Evansville 75-68 For First Valley Win

Box Score

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 1/11/2019 9:33:00 PM

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Sophomore Nyjah White scored all of her game-high 18 points in the second half and the duo of Gabi Haack and Chelsea Brackmann each scored 11 after the intermission to help power Bradley Women's Basketball to a 75-68 road win at Evansville Friday.

Bradley (11-3 overall, 1-2 MVC) earned its first Missouri Valley Conference victory of the year with the win, marking the third consecutive season the Braves earned their first league win of the year on the road.

White helped Bradley recover from a sluggish first half in which the Braves shot 34 percent, scoring 18 second-half points as she came off the bench for the first time this season. After a 12-for-35 shooting performance in the opening 20 minutes, Bradley made its first six shots of the second period including three baskets from Brackmann.

"We made some changes at halftime and went with a little more athletic lineup in the second half," said Bradley head coach Andrea Gorski. "They played small ball the entire game, which is tough for us, but we figured out a way to win. Nyjah used her athleticism to attack the rim and had a big second half."

Bradley scored the first five points of the contest with Jailynn Lawson opening the scoring with a three-pointer from in front and senior Shunseere Kent, who returned to the starting lineup for the first time since the end of November, added a hoop of her own nearing the seven-minute mark.

The Braves held Evansville (2-12 overall, 0-3 MVC) scoreless for nearly four minutes to start the contest and held the Purple Aces to 25 percent shooting in the opening 10 minutes. Bradley led 13-12 at the end of the first.

Evansville opened the second quarter with six consecutive points and used a 10-2 run to build a 22-15 lead midway through the second. Back-to-back three's by freshmen Tatum Koenig and Ellie Spelhaug late in the period helped the Braves pull within four (31-27) at the half.

Freshman Lasha Petree got things going for Bradley in the third quarter, opening the period with a three-pointer and Haack followed an Evansville hoop with a three of her own to knot the score at 33-33 less than two minutes into the second half.

With the score tied at 35-35, Brackmann had back-to-back hoops to give Bradley a 39-35 edge as BU started the second half with a 12-4 surge. White scored seven points in the third, capping the stanza with a three-point play as the Braves led 52-46 heading to the fourth. Bradley shot 64 percent from the field (9-of-14) in the third quarter, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

White added 11 points in the fourth to help Bradley pull away down the stretch. She scored eight of her 11 fourth-quarter points during a near five-minute span in which Bradley pushed a four-point advantage to its largest lead of the night at 67-54 closing in on two minutes to play.

White got the run started with a steal and layup, followed by a Brackmann three-point play. An Evansville hoop was chased by a White jumper on the wing to give Bradley a 59-50 advantage nearing the midway point of the fourth. The BU lead was double digits at 62-52 after another Brackmann layup. Later on another three-point play by White gave the Braves a 65-54 advantage and she followed up an Evansville miss with a driving layup to push the lead to 67-54 with 2:08 left to play.

Bradley made 8-of-10 free throws in the final 70 seconds to hold off the Purple Aces as the Braves improved to 6-4 in January road contests under third-year head coach Andrea Gorski.

White was 7-for-12 from the field and finished with a game-high 18 points. Brackmann, who scored her 600^th career point, and Haack each had 15 points and five rebounds for the Braves. Petree helped Bradley to a 41-37 rebounding advantage, pulling down a season-best 12 rebounds to go with her eight points.

Kerri Gasper paced Evansville in scoring with 17 points to lead four Aces in double figures.

Bradley closes out a two-game home stand Sunday with a 1 p.m. (CST) game at Indiana State.

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