Bradley BRAD 6-1,

Richmond UR 5-3

Bradley BRAD

6-1,

Final

Dec. 01, 2019

Richmond UR

5-3

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Bradley BRAD	4	13	26	18	61
Richmond UR	15	11	11	20	57

Box Score

Braves Take Tourney Title With 61-57 Comeback Over Richmond

Box Score

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 12/1/2019 1:22:00 PM

CONWAY, S.C. – Bradley overcame a slow offensive start and a 13-point first-half deficit to claim the Coastal Carolina Thanksgiving Classic title with a 61-57 victory over Richmond Sunday as the Braves picked up their fifth consecutive victory.

Sophomore Lasha Petree scored 17 of her game-high 19 points in the second half, including 10 points during a big third-quarter run for Bradley. Senior Chelsea Brackmann turned in her second consecutive double-double (17 points & 12 rebounds), while junior Gabi Haack followed up the first scoreless game of her career with a double-double of her own (13 points & 10 rebounds) to lead the Braves.

"I thought we had good energy pregame, but did we come out a little sluggish," said head coach Andrea Gorski. "At halftime we needed to address our energy level and we needed to be more physical in the second half and that was the key to the game."

A sluggish start to the contest which started at 10:30 a.m. (CST) had Bradley (6-1 overall) behind early. The Braves made their shot from the field in the opening minute of the game before missing 13 consecutive shots during a 1-for 14 start. Richmond (5-3 overall) took advantage and led by as many as 13 points early in the second quarter.

Bradley made 5-of-10 shots to close the second quarter, however, and the Braves were 19-for-33 (58 percent) from the field over the final 29 minutes of action. In fact, BU was even better in the second half (14-of-23 – 61 percent), which included 9-for-14 (63 percent) performance during the third quarter in which Bradley outscored Richmond 26-11.

Richmond benefitted from Bradley's cold start, taking control with a 13-1 run over a four-minute span in the first and the Spiders led 15-4 at the end of the opening period.

The Braves missed their first shot of the second, but made their next three field goal attempts to cut the deficit to seven (17-10) closing in on seven minutes to play in the half. Richmond was able to push the advantage back to 13 points (26-13) before a Petree layup and pair of free throws from sophomore Tatum Koenig in the closing minute of the half cut the deficit to 26-17. Bradley was 5-for-11 from the field in the second quarter.

Brackmann and Petree helped key a 15-4 Bradley run in the third. With the Braves trailing 31-22, Brackmann got free inside for a hoop and later added a three-point play as Bradley cut the deficit to two (31-29) nearing 6:30 to play in the period. Petree followed a Richmond basket with a three-pointer as the lead was down to one (33-32) closing in on midway through the third.

Bradley held Richmond scoreless for the next two-and-a-half minutes with the Braves grabbing their first lead since the opening minute of the game at 34-33 on a pair of Petree free throws with 3:37 left in the third. Petree added another three-pointer less than 30 seconds later to cap the run which put BU out front 37-33.

The Braves managed to extend the lead to six at 43-47 by the end of the frame on a layup by Backmann, who was 4-for-5 from the field and had nine points in the third.

Back-to-back three's by Koenig and Petree to start the fourth pushed the lead to double digits (49-37) and the Braves had their largest lead of the contest at 56-43 with just under four minutes to play on a Petree hoop. Richmond would manage to rally, however, answering with a 12-0 run over a 2:22 stretch to cut the Bradley lead to one (56-55) with a minute remaining.

Petree put an end to the Spiders' run with a fastbreak layup on the other end and Brackmann followed a defensive stop by splitting a pair of free throws with 15.6 seconds left to make it a two-possession game (59-55). Bradley split another pair of free throws after a Petree steal on the next Richmond trip down the floor and junior Nyjah White split a pair of her own in the closing seconds after a Richmond basket to seal the 61-57 win.

Bradley is 6-1 or better to start a season for the fifth time in program history and the Braves have had back-to-back 6-1 or better starts to seasons for the first time in program history.

Brackmann's double-double was the 22^nd of her career as she moved into sole possession of second in Bradley history with her 33^rd career double-digit rebounding game. The MVC's leading rebounder at 10.9 boards per contest this season, she also moved into a tie with Dena Williams for second in career rebounding at Bradley at 799 boards.

Petree scored her 500^th career point with her game-high 19-point effort in her 37^th career game to become the third-fastest sophomore in program history to reach 500 career points. Judy Burns (28) and Connie Griffith (30) are the only players to reach the mark faster in Bradley history.

Haack, who collected her fifth career double-double, knocked down a pair of three-pointers to move into a tie with Heather Best for fourth on Bradley's career three-point list at 153.

Alex Parson paced three Richmond players in double figures with 15 points. Bradley finished the game shooting 43 percent from the field and held the Spiders to 36 percent shooting.

Bradley opens a two-game home stand Thursday with a 7 p.m. game against North Dakota State at Renaissance Coliseum.

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