TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Chelsea Brackmann turned in her seventh double-double of the year (21 points & 10 rebounds) and sophomore Gabi Haack added 16 points to help power Bradley Women's Basketball to a 61-45 victory at Indiana State Sunday afternoon.
Bradley (12-3 overall, 2-2 MVC) evened its record at 2-2 in league play and earned its fifth road victory of the season, improving to 5-1 in road games on the year. The Braves had lost 21 consecutive games at the Hulman Center dating back to a win on Jan. 26, 1997 prior to Sunday's victory in Terre Haute, Ind., and are now 7-4 in January road games under third-year head coach Andrea Gorski.
Bradley got off to a slow start offensively, turning the ball over five times in the opening five minutes. Indiana State (8-7 overall, 2-2 MVC) took advantage and hit a trio of three-pointers during a 50-second span as the Sycamores jumped out to a 9-0 lead.
Brackmann had four points and two rebounds to help key a 9-2 Bradley run which pulled the Braves within two at 11-9. Bradley scored 10 of the final 12 points of the first quarter, taking a 14-13 lead at the end of the period on a Haack three-pointer.
The Braves held Indiana State without a field goal for the first 4:36 of the second and the Sycamores were just 2-for-11 from the field in the period. Haack scored eight points during the second helping Bradley push the advantage to as many as 14 points (32-18) with 1:17 left before the break. The Braves were 7-for-12 (58 percent) from the field in the second period.
Indiana State pulled within seven points at 37-30 nearing the midway point of the third quarter, before Bradley pulled away. A pair of Tatum Koenig free throws snapped a Sycamore spurt and Haack added two free throws of her own at 3:40 mark to push the lead back to double digits (41-30). After a defensive stop, Haack assisted a Koenig three-pointer from the wing as the lead ballooned to 44-30 closing in on three minutes left in the third. Bradley later pushed the advantage to as many as 16 points (50-34) on a Brackmann hoop and led 50-38 heading to the fourth.
The Braves put the game out of reach with an 11-2 run to open the fourth. Shunseere Kent had a pair of baskets during the spurt as Bradley allowed just two points in the first six minutes of the stanza to take its largest lead of the day at 61-40 with just under five minutes to play.
Indiana State managed just one field goal down the stretch, shooting 2-for-14 (14.3 percent) in the period as Bradley closed out the 61-43 victory.
Brackmann and Haack combined for 37 of Bradley's 61 points on 14-for-20 shooting. The 21-point performance was Brackmann's second 20-point game in the last three outings and fourth of her career as she connected on 10-of-14 from the field to go with her 10 rebounds.
Haack moved into a tie for eighth in career three-pointers at Bradley (111) with Jen Brown, knocking down 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. She also had 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting in addition to collecting eight rebounds and three assists.
Ashli O'Neal led Indiana State in scoring with 15 points, while Alexis Delgado added 10 points of her own. The Braves held the Sycamores to 22.4 percent shooting on the day to tie for the fourth lowest opponent field goal percentage in Bradley history.
Bradley returns to Renaissance Coliseum, hosting Missouri State in a 7 p.m. game Friday.