PEORIA, Ill. -- Sophomore Lasha Petree scored 22 of her career-high 30 points in the first half and junior Gabi Haack added 21 points of her own as the pair combined for 11 three-pointers to help Bradley Women's Basketball to a 70-64 victory over visiting North Dakota State Thursday at Renaissance Coliseum.
Bradley (7-1 overall) pushed its win streak to six games and the Braves now own a nine-game home win streak dating back to last season. Petree hit six three-pointers, while Haack knocked down five triples of her own as the pair combined to go 11-for-24 from beyond the arc. Sophomore Tatum Koenig joined the duo in double figures with a season-best 10 points to go with a career-best seven assists. The 7-1 start to the season marks the fourth time in program history Bradley has opened a season with a 7-1 mark or better.
North Dakota State (1-8 overall) shot a blistering 61 percent in the first half, including 10-for-15 from the field in the second quarter. Despite the hot shooting by the Bison early in the game, Bradley led for most of the first quarter. Haack sparked an 8-0 run with a three-pointer and Koenig followed a Haack layup with a three-pointer of her own to give the Braves a 15-8 edge midway through the period. The Braves lead was 22-20 after the opening 10 minutes.
North Dakota State's 67 percent shooting in the second helped the Bison build a 28-24 advantage nearing the seven-minute mark of the period before Petree took over. After scoring eight points in the first quarter, Petree scored 14 points in the second, including 10 points in the final 2:38 of the half. With Bradley trailing 38-32, Petree sandwiched a pair of three's around a North Dakota State basket to cut the deficit to two (40-38). Another North Dakota State hoop in the lane pushed the NDSU lead back to four, but a pair of free throws from Petree with 1:20 to play in the stanza cut it to two. A steal on the next Bison possession set up a breakaway layup for Petree as Bradley and North Dakota State went into the locker room knotted at 42-42.
In the third quarter, Petree highlighted a 12-0 run with eight points to help Bradley to its largest lead of the contest (59-49) with just under two minutes to play in the frame. Junior Nyjah White split a pair of free throws near the five-minute mark and Petree followed a North Dakota State turnover with another three-pointer. A Koenig steal led to a Petree basket in the lane and Koenig found Haack for a three-pointer from the wing with 2:54 left in the third to make it a 56-49 BU lead. Keonig's second steal in a two-minute stretch resulted in a fastbreak pull-up three-pointer from Petree as the lead ballooned to 59-49 late in the third.
North Dakota State continued to get the ball inside and used a 12-2 run over the final 1:43 of the third and first 4:38 of the fourth to pull even at 61-61. Haack snapped the tie with a driving layup with 4:20 left and added her fifth three-pointer of the night after a North Dakota State miss to push the advantage to 66-61 with 3:21 on the clock. A basket by White with 2:35 to play later pushed the lead to six (68-62) and North Dakota State managed just one hoop on its final five possessions as the Braves closed out the 70-64 win.
Petree's 30-point game was the highest point total by a Brave since Haack had 32 last November at Florida Atlantic and was best scoring output in a home game by a Bradley player since Michelle Young had 32 in the 2013-14 season opener against Illinois.
Haack, who moved into the top 25 in career scoring at Bradley (890 career points) moved into a tie for third in Bradley history with 158 career three-pointers to match Michelle Nason's (1993-95) total.
Bradley held North Dakota State to 27 percent shooting in the second half and the Braves committed a season-low 14 turnovers.
Emily Dietz pace three North Dakota State players in double figures with 16 points and also grabbed eight rebounds.
Bradley plays its final non-conference home game of the year Tuesday, hosting Jackson State in a noon contest at Renaissance Coliseum for the team's annual Field Trip Day. Approximately 2,900 area children are expected to be in attendance.