PEORIA, Ill. -- Senior Shunseere Kent scored a season-high 17 point in the final home game of her career and was one of three Bradley players to score in double figures as the Braves earned their 20th win of the season with a 71-59 victory over Loyola Saturday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.
Bradley (20-7 overall, 10-6) reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 2008-09 and just the third time in school history as the Braves extended their home win streak to six with the victory. In addition, Bradley locked up a top-five finish in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with two games remaining along with tying the school record for home wins in a season as the Braves closed out the 2018-19 home schedule with a 12-3 mark.
Freshman Lasha Petree came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points to pace the Braves, while junior Chelsea Brackmann had 10 points and 11 rebounds for her conference-leading 15th double-double of the season.
One of Petree's five three-pointers gave Bradley an 18-16 lead to close the first quarter and she buried two more NBA-range triples during the second quarter, helping the Braves to a 34-28 halftime advantage. Petree scored 12 of her 19 points in the first half.
Bradley's lead hit double digits at 38-28 when sophomore Gabi Haack found Brackmann for a breakaway layup after a steal in the opening minutes of the third quarter.
Loyola (12-16 overall, 6-11 MVC) didn't go away, however, chipping away at the BU lead and eventually pulling even at 43-43 on a pair of Abby O'Connor free throws with 2:24 to play in the third. The Braves scored the final five points of the period to go back in front 48-43. Haack started the mini run with a pair of free throws and freshman Tatum Koenig split a pair of free throws with 1:55 on the clock to push the lead to three. Another Haack steal led to a Kent breakaway layup as Bradley took a five-point lead into the fourth quarter.
O'Connor, who had 16 points and 15 rebounds to lead Loyola, buried a three-pointer from out front with 5:37 left in the game to pull the Ramblers within two a 56-54.
Neither team scored over the next two minutes before sophomore Nyjah White snapped a three-minute scoring drought for the Braves with a jumper in the lane with 3:12 remaining.
Petree knocked down her fourth three-pointer of the day to make it a seven-point Bradley cushion (61-54) and answered an O'Connor triple with a pull-up three in transition to keep the lead at seven (64-57) nearing the two-minute mark.
After a defensive stop, Petree split a pair of free throws, pushing the advantage to eight (65-57) and Bradley held Loyola without a field goal for the final 2:20 of the contest. The Braves were 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final minute and a hoop from freshman Asia Strong put the finishing touches on the 71-59 victory.
Bradley shot 27.3 percent (15-for-55) from the field in the first three quarters, but was 7-of-9 shooting in the fourth. The Braves also made 20-of-24 free throw attempts and committed just nine turnovers, one short of matching the fewest turnovers in a game this season. Kent led the charge to the free throw line, going a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe as she scored in double figures for the fourth consecutive game.
The Braves capped a 12-3 home season, marking the first time Bradley won 12 home contests since the 2008-09 team was 12-2. The 2008-09 squad also finished with a school record 21 victories in a 21-10 campaign in the only other 20-win season for Bradley at the NCAA Division I level. The 1979-80 team was 20-9 under head coach Jan Winkler.
Brackmann's 15 double-doubles tie for the 14th-best season total in MVC history and are the most by a Valley player since Dyana Pierre of Southern Illinois had 15 in 2015-16. She hauled down her 300th rebound of the season to become just the fourth player in school history to reach 300 boards and moved into seventh in Bradley history as she pushed her career rebounding total to 696.
Petree was 5-for-10 from three-point range as had her 11th outing of the year with at least 18 points. Her 370 points this season now rank second among Bradley freshman scoring marks behind only the 489 points scored by Judy Burns as a frosh in 1981-82.
The Loyola game marked the final home contests for both Kent and fellow senior Vanessa Markert, who scored three points in nine minutes off the bench.
Bradley closes out the 2018-19 regular-season schedule on the road, opening a two-game road swing Thursday with a 7 p.m. game at third-place Northern Iowa.