Women’s Basketball Faces Richmond Sunday

Missouri Valley Conference

Women's Basketball 11/30/2019 12:54:00 PM

CONWAY, S.C. – After a dramatic 61-59 win at the buzzer over George Mason Friday to open the Coastal Carolina Thanksgiving Classic, Bradley Women's Basketball will face Richmond Sunday at 10:30 a.m. (CST) as the Braves try to push their win streak to five games.

Bradley (5-1 overall) will face Richmond (5-2 overall) for the first time when the two meet in what has turned out to be the championship game of the Coastal Carolina Thanksgiving Classic Sunday morning at Coastal Carolina's HTC Center.

Richmond has won four of its last five games, topping tournament-host Coastal Carolina 79-67 Friday afternoon.

BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats along with the WIRL 1290 AM radio broadcast. No video stream will be available for Sunday's contest.

Bradley will be trying to win an in-season tournament for the second consecutive year after claiming the Florida Atlantic Thanksgiving Tournament title last year in Boca Raton, Fla. The Braves have won six in-season tournament titles in 32 tries and will be playing in the championship game of a tournament for the 13^th time. Bradley's in-season tournament titles were in 2018-19 (Florida Atlantic), 2008-09 (Northern Arizona), 2001-02 (Maine), 1996-97 (Arizona State), 1994-95 (Navy) and 1993-94 (Stetson).
Friday's win improved Bradley to 5-1 on the year and the Braves have won four consecutive games for their longest win streak since opening the 2018-19 season with a 9-0 mark. The 5-1 start to the year marks the eighth time Bradley has started a season 5-1 or better. The Braves are in search of just the fifth start of 6-1 or better to a season, hoping to join the 2018-19 (9-0), 2008-09 (6-1), 2001-02 (9-0) and 1980-81 (7-1) squads.
In addition to hitting the game-winning shot at the buzzer Friday, senior Chelsea Brackmann turned in her first double-double of the year (15 points & 13 rebounds) against George Mason. Brackmann pushed her career rebounding total to 787, which is one short of matching Val Wancket for third in Bradley history and she is just 13 boards short of becoming just the second player in program history to reach 800 career rebounds (Dena Williams – 2^nd at 799). Brackmann tied Williams for second in BU history with her 32^nd career double-digit rebound effort and her 21 career double-doubles are now third. Over the last three games, Brackmann has shot 55 percent from the field and averaged 10.0 points and 14.3 rebounds per game during that stretch.
Senior Chelsea Brackmann isn't the only Brave that has had a bit of a hot streak lately with junior Nyjah White scoring in double figures in five of six games. In fact, over the last four games White is shooting 61.8 percent (21-of-34) from the field and has averaged 11.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and nearly three assists per game.
Junior Gabi Haack was held scoreless in Friday's game against George Mason, but if history is any indicator she will likely be back in double figures Sunday. Haack did not score in a game for the first time in her career, but the last three times she has been held to four points or fewer she bounced back with at least 15 points the next contest. She had just one game of four points or less last year, chasing a four-point game against Loyola in which she did not have a field goal with a 15-point effort against Northern Iowa. In her last three "rebound" games, she has averaged 17.3 points per outing, while hitting 12-of-26 (46.2 percent) from beyond the arc.
Sophomore Lasha Petree scored a game-high 18 points Friday against George Mason and matched a career-high with four assists. Taking over as the team's leading scorer at 14.2 points per game, Petree has scored at least 14 points in all but one game (vs. Eureka) this season. She has 482 career points in 36 games as she closes in on 500 for her career. Petree is looking to become just the ninth player in school history to reach 500 career points in less than 39 games (last was Monica Rogers in 2008-09 – 37) and she would be just the third sophomore to do so. Judy Burns (1982-83) and Connie Griffith (1979-80) are the only sophomores in Bradley history to reach 500 career points in 37 games or less with both doing so in 30 games or fewer.
Bradley was +15 on the boards in Friday's win against George Mason and the Braves currently rank fourth in the country in rebounding margin (+16.2). Currently third in the nation in rebounds per game (51.8), Bradley has been +12 or better on the boards in each of the five victories (-6 in the loss at Michigan) this year. Overall, the Braves have won each of their last 12 games they have had an advantage on the glass dating back to early January 2019.
Bradley has cracked the top 50 in the nation according to realtimerpi.com, with the Braves jumping to #41 following Friday's win against George Mason. One of five MVC schools listed in the top 50 according to realtimerpi.com, Bradley is one six Valley squads in the websites top 100.

Bradley follows up the Coastal Carolina Thanksgiving Classic with back-to-back home games. The Braves open the two-game home stand Thursday with a 7 p.m. contest against North Dakota State at Renaissance Coliseum.

Print Friendly Version