PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Women's Basketball held I-74 rival Illinois State without a field goal for the final 12 minutes of the contest and outscored the Redbirds 27-8 over that stretch as the Braves stretched their home win streak to a program record 13 games with a 76-61 victory Friday at Renaissance Coliseum.
Sophomore Lasha Petree scored a game-high 24 points to go with a career-high six blocks, which tied for the fourth-best single game total in school history, to pace Bradley (12-2 overall, 3-0 MVC). Senior Chelsea Brackmann added a season-best 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting despite appearing to suffer an injury in the opening minutes of the game.
Joining the duo in double figures was junior Nyjah White, who added 16 points and three assists. Junior Gabi Haack finished with six points to go with a career-high 12 rebounds.
Both teams entered the game with 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference records, with Bradley hanging on to a share of first in the league standings after the victory. Missouri State edged Drake Friday in Springfield, Mo., and is tied with the Braves atop the standings at 3-0 in Valley play.
Bradley is 3-0 to start MVC action for the second time in three years and fifth time overall. In addition, the Braves are 12-2 overall to start a season for just the second time, matching the 2008-09 team for the best start in program history through 14 games.
Illinois State (10-4 overall, 2-1 MVC) led for nearly 12 minutes of the first half and held a 33-31 advantage at halftime. The Redbirds managed to push the lead to five points in the opening moments of the third quarter and led 45-41 with just under seven minutes to play in the period before a Bradley push.
With Bradley trailing 46-43, sophomore Tatum Koenig had a driving layup and Petree followed up an Emily Marsh steal with a layup of her own as the Braves had their first lead since around the seven-minute mark of the second quarter at 47-46 with 4:37 to play in the third.
Illinois State's Juliunn Redmond, who led ISU with 20 points off the bench, had a fastbreak pull-up hoop and a three-pointer, while a basket in the lane by Tete Maggett gave the Redbirds a 53-49 lead with just over two minutes left in the third.
The Maggett basket would turn out to be the final field goal of the game for Illinois State, which scored just eight points over the final 12 minutes.
Brackmann split a pair of free throws to start an 8-3 Bradley spurt to close the period. Petree chased an ISU turnover with a three-pointer to tie the game at 53-53, only to have Illinois State make three of four free throws in a 15-second span as the Redbirds retook the lead at 56-53. A pair of Petree free throws cut the Illinois State lead to one and a long two-point basket by Brackmann in the closing seconds of the third gave Bradley a 57-56 edge heading to the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, Bradley held the Redbirds to 0-for-13 shooting and forced three turnovers. In fact, a 13-1 Bradley run to open the final stanza put the game out of reach. Brackmann got the scoring started with a strong move in the paint and a pair of Koenig free throws after a Petree steal gave the Braves a 61-56 lead less than a minute in.
With the BU lead at 61-57 after a Redbird free throw, Petree knocked down her third three-pointer of the night at 6:42 and a layup by White made it a 66-57 cushion with six minutes left. Koenig made a pair of free throws with 4:29 on the clock. Petree capped the decisive run with a layup as Bradley's lead ballooned to 70-57 with just under three minutes to play.
The teams traded free throws before Petree found Brackmann for a hoop which gave the Braves their largest lead of the day (74-59) in the eventual 76-61 BU victory.
Bradley has now won a school record 13 consecutive home games dating back to late January 2019 to break the previous record of 12 consecutive home wins.
Brackmann pushed her career rebound total to 837, seven short of matching Leti Lerma's school record of 844 career rebounds. Petree's six blocks were the most by a Brave dating back to a six-block outing by Tamya Sims against Kent State on Dec. 8, 2015 and also tied a Renaissance Coliseum record.
The Braves hit the road for the first time in MVC play next week, taking on Loyola next Friday in a 3 p.m. game in Chicago.