PEORIA, Ill. -- Sophomore Nyjah White (15 points & 10 rebounds) and junior Chelsea Brackmann (10 points & 12 rebounds) both turned in double-doubles to help Bradley Women's Basketball cruise to an 81-63 victory over Evansville Sunday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.
Bradley (17-5 overall, 7-4 MVC) picked up its third consecutive victory and held on to fourth in the MVC standings with win as the Braves surpassed their Missouri Valley Conference win total from last season.
White paced four Bradley players in double figures with a team-best 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting and also collected 10 rebounds, seven assists and a block in 21 minutes of action, turning in her first double-double of the year. Brackmann hauled down nine of her 12 rebounds on the day in the first half, including six in the first quarter, finishing with 10 points and 12 boards in just 15 minutes for her 11th double-double of the season.
Freshman Lasha Petree followed up her historic performance from Friday with 14 points off the bench as she connected on 4-of-6 three-point attempts. Petree pushed her season point total to 283, which ranks ninth among Bradley freshman marks as she helped Bradley hit a season-high 11 three-pointers. Fellow freshman Tatum Koenig joined the group in double figures with 11 points and was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Evansville (2-20 overall, 0-11 MVC) was able to keep up with Bradley early in the game with the Braves leading 23-21 after the opening period.
Sophomore Emily Marsh got things rolling for Bradley in the second quarter with a three-pointer to spark a 10-0 run by the Braves to open the period. Brackmann added a basket and White scored the final five points of the spurt with a three-point play and a pair of free throws as Bradley pushed the advantage to 33-21 with just under seven minutes to play in the second.
Bradley followed Evansville's first points of the second quarter with nine straight points, capped by a Petree jumper and three-pointer. The lead ballooned to 55-28 by halftime as the Braves shot 57 percent in the period, including 5-of-8 (62.5 percent) from three-point range, in the second as Bradley outscored the Purple Aces 32-7 in the frame.
While Bradley cooled off a bit in the second half after shooting 54 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, the Braves continued to play strong defense and limited Evansville to 27.8 percent shooting in the third. Bradley opened the third with a 9-1 run to put the game away. Senior Shunseere Kent started the half with a jumper and Brackmann had back-to-back hoops. Sophomore Gabi Haack chased an Evansville free throw with a three-point play as the Braves led 64-29 nearing the midway point of the third.
Evansville was able to trim the Bradley lead to 69-45 by the end of the third, but back-to-back three's by Marsh and Petree to start the fourth pushed the lead back to 30 as the Braves cruised to the 81-63 victory.
Bradley is 17-5 to open a season for the first time since the 1981-82 squad opened a 19-8 campaign with an 18-5 mark.
Haack finished with five points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal in 20 minutes to bring an end to her streak of 19 consecutive games scoring in double figures, which is the seventh longest streak in Bradley history and longest by a Brave since Carrie Coffman (28) between the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons.
Despite Bradley hitting a season-high 11 three-pointers, Haack also had her streak of 15 consecutive games with a three-pointer ended. Her 15-game streak with at least one three-pointer is tied for the fifth longest in school history.
Marley Morgan led Evansville with 21 points, while Anna Newman added 14 points off the bench for the Aces. Evansville committed the fewest turnovers in Renaissance Coliseum history (5), but shot just 31.9 percent from the field and Bradley held a 55-35 rebounding advantage.
The Braves return to action Friday, opening a two-game MVC road swing in Carbondale, Ill., with a 6 p.m. game at Southern Illinois