Women’s Basketball Opens Practice

Missouri Valley Conference

Women's Basketball 9/29/2019 7:00:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- With Thursday night's Bradley Basketball Spaghetti Supper marking the "unofficial" kickoff to the 2019-20 season, Bradley Women's Basketball followed it up by holding the first official practice of the 2019-20 campaign at Renaissance Coliseum Sunday afternoon.

The Braves enter the 45th season of intercollegiate competition in 2019-20, coming off just the third 20-win season in program history after posting a 20-10 mark. In fact, for the first time Bradley history the Braves have had four consecutive seasons with an improved record with last season's record marking the best season in a decade on The Hilltop.

The 2019-20 Bradley roster features nine returning letterwinners, including four starters, from a squad which finished fifth (10-8) in last year's MVC race. One of just two Valley teams to return a pair of First-Team All-MVC performers in senior forward Chelsea Brackmann and junior guard Gabi Haack along with defending champion Drake, the Braves will also be bolstered by the return of 2018-19 MVC Freshman of the Year Lasha Petree.

Overall, Bradley's returners combined for nearly 56 points and 29 rebounds per game last, with both totals fourth among MVC teams heading into the 2019-20 season.

Haack paced Bradley in scoring at 14.9 points per game for the highest scoring average by a Brave dating back to 2001-02 and was the eighth player to lead the team in both scoring and assists in the same season. In fact, Haack was one of 10 players in the country and just the fourth in the MVC since 1995-96 to make 69 three-pointers, 120 free throws and pull down at least 160 rebounds.

Brackmann pulled down a Bradley season record 327 rebounds and paced the MVC in rebounding at 10.9 boards per contest. She was 21st in the nation in rebounding and collected 16 double-doubles as a junior. Brackmann was the first MVC player since 2011-12 to tally 375 points, 325 rebounds, 35 assists, 30 blocks and 45 or more steals in a season (one of seven in the nation in 2018-19).

Petree, who was also named MVC Sixth Player of the Year last year as a frosh, was the highest scoring freshman in the MVC since Drake's Sara Rhine in 2015-16 at 13.2 points per outing. She had a late season surge, which saw her average 14.6 points per contest over the final 10 games.

In fact, the trio combined to give Bradley three players averaging 12.6 points per game or better for the first time since 1994-95 and the 2019-20 season marks the first in program history the Braves have three returning players that scored 12.5 points per game or better the previous year.

Sophomore Tatum Koenig started the final 15 games and the point guard averaged 6.1 points and 2.9 assists per outing as a starter.

While Bradley isn't lacking for experience, the Braves boast what is a relatively young lineup with Brackmann the only senior to appear in the starting lineup last year and the returning players combing for nearly 80 percent of last year's starts.

The Braves added three freshmen to the 2019-20 roster and the team received a jumpstart on the 2019-20 by taking a summer exhibition trip to Portugal in August.

Bradley will have a little over two weeks of practice prior to the annual Red-White Scrimmage, which will be held Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 6 p.m. at Renaissance Coliseum. The Braves play their only exhibition game of the year Sunday, Nov. 3, hosting Illinois-Springfield in a 2 p.m. contest. The 2019-20 regular-season schedule gets underway Friday, Nov. 8 with Bradley heading to Rochester, Mich., for a game at Oakland.

For season ticket information contact the Bradley Athletics Ticket office at (309) 677-2625 or email BradleyTicketOffice@bradley.edu

Print Friendly Version