PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley trailed Indiana State by 17 points closing in on four minutes to play, when freshman Lasha Petree scored 13 points and came away with three steals in a 46-second span to highlight a 21-3 closing spurt which gave the Braves an 81-80 victory over the Sycamores Friday at Renaissance Coliseum.
Petree hit four three-pointers and added a free throw for a personal 13-0 run during a closing stretch in which Bradley (16-5 overall, 6-4 MVC) erased a 17-point deficit. She finished with 18 points, three rebounds, one assist, two blocks and three steals in just 18 minutes off the bench to help the Braves sweep the regular-season series from Indiana State (10-11 overall, 4-6 MVC) for the first time since 1995-96.
A fast break three by Indiana State's Tamara Lee gave the Sycamores a 77-60 advantage midway through the fourth quarter. Bradley held Indiana State without a field goal for the next four minutes and 50 seconds and the Braves took advantage of the Sycamore offensive woes.
Sophomore Gabi Haack, who finished with a team-high 20 points, started the Bradley run with a three-pointer with 4:08 to play. The Indiana State lead was 15 points (78-63) after a Lee free throw with 3:45 left, but Petree would take over.
The freshman snapped a 1:40 scoreless stretch for the Braves with a three-pointer at 2:27 as Petree scored 13 points in the next 46 seconds. She stole the ensuing Indiana State inbounds pass and knocked down a three-pointer to cut the deficit to single digits for the first time since midway through the third quarter. The back-to-back three's were just six seconds apart.
Another steal by Petree resulted in a trip to the free throw line, where she split the pair to cut the Indiana State lead to eight (78-70) with 2:12 remaining. Bradley got a stop on the defensive end and senior Shunseere Kent found Petree for another three as the Sycamore lead was down to five with 1:50 on the clock. Petree's third steal in just 30 seconds led to her fourth three-pointer as she pulled the Braves within two points at 78-76 with 1:41 left.
Bradley forced a turnover on the next Indiana State possession and junior Chelsea Brackmann split a pair of free throws with 1:08 remaining to cut it to a one-point Sycamore lead 78-77.
Another Indiana State turnover was followed by a pair of Haack free throws with 44.2 seconds left as Bradley went in front 79-78. The Sycamores committed their ninth turnover during the final 3:24 of the contest to give the ball back to the Braves and Kent split a pair of free throws with 25.7 seconds to make it a two-point Bradley lead 80-78.
Indiana State didn't go quietly, however, with Ty Battle getting a game-tying hoop with 8.4 seconds left.
Petree was fouled with 7.2 seconds on the clock and split a pair at the line to once again put Bradley ahead 81-80.
With one last chance and no timeouts, Indiana State quickly pushed the ball up the floor only to have the Braves come up with another defensive stop. Brackmann tied up Alexis Delgado in the lane in the closing seconds to close out the comeback win for the Braves.
Petree scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half, including 14 points in the final two-and-a-half minutes. Haack scored in double figures for the 19th consecutive game and also extended her streak of consecutive games with a three-pointer to 15 as she had 20 points in her fifth 20-point outing of the season. Brackmann finished with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Kent added 11 points.
Four Indiana State players were in double figures, with Ashli O'Neal pacing the group (21 points). Battle finished with a double-double for the Sycamores (14 points, 10 rebounds & six assists) and Regan Wentland matched her with 14 points.
Bradley closes out a two-game home stand Sunday with a 2 p.m. game against Evansville. The Braves will host a free post-game youth clinic following the game against the Purple Aces open to all children (K-8th).