PEORIA, Ill. -- Sophomore Gabi Haack scored a game-high 18 points and freshman Lasha Petree added 12 of her 14 points in the second half to help Bradley Women's Basketball grind out a 58-53 overtime victory over Southern Illinois at Renaissance Coliseum Sunday afternoon.
Haack scored in double figures for the 15th consecutive game, finishing with a game-high 18 points, while Petree scored in double figures for the first time in Missouri Valley Conference play as she finished with 14 points off the bench. Junior Chelsea Brackmann turned in her ninth double-double of the year (13 points & 12 rebounds) to tie the 10th best season double-double total (9) in school history.
Bradley (13-4 overall, 3-3 MVC) evened its MVC record at 3-3 to move into a tie for fourth in the league standings in addition to earning its first Valley home win of the year. The Braves matched their overall win total from last year with the victory, which was BU's first overtime home win since an 87-80 double overtime victory over Drake on Feb. 21, 2009 at Lorene Ramsey Gym in East Peoria.
Bradley got off to a strong start, scoring the first seven points of the game and held Southern Illinois (8-8 overall, 1-4 MVC) to just four first quarter points as the Braves led 15-4 after the first period. BU extended the lead to as many as 14 points late in the second quarter and owned a 28-19 halftime lead after limiting the Salukis to 25 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
Southern Illinois managed to cut the Bradley advantage to five nearing the midway point of the third quarter, but the Braves held SIU to just one field goal over a near eight-minute stretch, which included the remainder of the third and first two-and-a-half minutes of the fourth. Bradley managed to extend the lead back to double digits at 41-30 on a Petree free throw with 7:45 left in regulation.
Southern Illinois four back, with Celina VanHyfte scoring back-to-back hoops to spark a 15-2 SIU run and Nicole Martin scored eight points during the spurt which gave the Salukis their first lead of the day at 45-43 with 3:43 left in the fourth.
Petree split a pair of free throws to pull Bradley within one at 45-43 and came up with one of the biggest shots of the game when she knocked down a three from the wing to put the Braves back in front 47-45 with 1:34 on the clock. A pair of Makenzie Silvey free throws with 29.9 seconds left tied the game at 47-47, however, and Bradley was unable to get a shot off on the ensuing possession as the Braves went to overtime for the second time in the last three home games.
Bradley had to rally again in the overtime period after Martin scored the first four points of the extra frame to give Southern Illinois a 51-47 lead. Freshman Tatum Koenig knocked down a pair of free throws and Haack followed a defensive stop with two free throws of her own to tie things up again at 51-51 less than two minutes into the overtime.
A SIU turnover gave the ball back to Bradley and Petree's second three-pointer of the day pushed the Braves in front 54-51 closing in on the three-minute mark. Neither team was able to score over the next two minutes, before a Martin layup snapped a three-minute SIU scoring drought and cut the BU advantage to one (54-43) with 56 seconds to play.
Petree answered with a pull-up jumper in the lane late in the shot clock to give the Braves a three-point edge (56-53) with 29.5 second remaining. SIU missed a pair of shots on the next trip down the floor and Haack sealed the game with a pair of free throws with three seconds left as Bradley snapped an eight-game losing streak in the series with Southern Illinois.
Haack is now the fifth player in school history to hit 49 or more three-pointers and make at least 75 free throws in a season after knocking down 3-of-7 three-pointers and going a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe Sunday. She also scored the 600th point of her career to tie for the eighth fastest player in program history to reach 600 points (48 games or less).
Petree was 2-for-9 from the floor before her three-pointer late in the fourth quarter and made her final three shots as she added 14 points and four steals off the bench. Brackmann has a league-high nine double-doubles on the year after pulling down eight second-half boards, finishing the day with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Martin paced three SIU players in double figures with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Silvey added 14 points, while VanHyfte scored 10 points in 17 minutes off the bench.
Bradley opens a three-game MVC road swing Saturday with a 4 p.m. game at I-74 rival Illinois State.