Braves Picked Second; Lasha Petree Named MVC Preseason Player Of The Year

Women's Basketball 10/13/2020 9:35:00 AM

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- With the first official practice of the 2020-21 Bradley Women's Basketball season slated for Wednesday afternoon, expectations for the year are high after the Braves were picked a program-best second in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll which was announced Tuesday.

In addition to the second-place selection, junior Lasha Petree was tabbed the MVC Preseason Player of the Year according to the annual vote of the league's coaches, sports information directors and media. Not to be outdone, two-time First-Team All-MVC performer Gabi Haack was also named to the Valley's preseason all-conference squad. Bradley had not a preseason all-conference selection dating back to 2002-03 when Sara Bailey was named to the team.

The second-place selection in the preseason poll is the best in program history, surpassing a third-place pick prior to the 1986-87 campaign. Bradley received seven of 40 first-place votes, with defending MVC regular-season champion Missouri State garnering the other 33 first-place nods. The Bears were first in the tabulation, earning 360 points, while the Braves followed in second with 328 points. Northern Iowa was third in the voting at 288 points.

Bradley has matched or exceeded its placement in the preseason poll in five of the last six years, including a higher finish each of the past two seasons.

One of five Valley teams to return four or more starters, the Braves posted the best MVC finish in school history last year (third) with a school-record 13 league wins. Bradley is the first team in Missouri Valley Conference history to post an improved overall win total in five consecutive seasons and is coming off the first back-to-back 20-win campaigns in school history.

Bradley is one of 10 teams in the nation to win at least 22 games last year and return three individuals that averaged at least 10 points per game. In fact, only eight of those squads claimed 22 victories prior to their respective conference tournaments in 2019-20. Joining Bradley on that exclusive list were Stanford, Texas A&M, Old Dominion, Indiana, DePaul, Fresno State and Central Michigan.

Boasting one of the most experienced rosters in the MVC, Bradley returns over 80 percent of its scoring from a 22-win squad which was third in the Valley in scoring. In addition, the returning Braves accounted for nearly three-quarters of the team's rebounding after ranking fourth in the league. Overall, BU's nine returners from 2019-20 combined to score 57.7 points per outing last year (second in MVC) and nearly 27 rebounds per contest (fourth in MVC).

Petree is the top returning scorer in the MVC after ranking fourth in the league at 16.5 points per game, while Haack was 10th in the Valley in scoring last year at 13.3 points per outing. Haack is currently 11th in career scoring at Bradley with her 1,161 career points the fourth most points by a Brave prior to their senior year.

Petree will start the 2020-21 campaign 28th in Bradley history with 875 career points and only BU Hall of Fame member Judy Burns (1,102) scored more points on The Hilltop by the close of their sophomore year. Haack and Petree have combined for 2,036 career points heading into 2020-21 season, surpassing the highest combined career point total for a Bradley duo entering a season of 1,750 points by Connie Griffith and Kathy Stokes in 1980-81.

Joining the duo in the starting lineup is senior Nyjah White, who was one of just two players to rank in the top 20 in the MVC in scoring and top 15 in both rebounding and assists last year, collecting 10.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest. White also ranked third on the team in steals and last year. One of the most versatile players in school history, White starts her senior year as one of seven players in Bradley history with 650 career points, 400 rebounds, 175 assists, 50 blocks and at least 90 steals. The last Brave to reach those numbers was Katie Yohn (2009-13).

Junior point guard Tatum Koenig has started 43 of the last 44 games dating back to January of her freshman season and has been a big reason the Braves have averaged just 14.98 turnovers over the past two seasons, which is the third best average in the MVC over that stretch. Last year, Koenig ranked eighth in the Valley in assists per game (3.7) and was fifth in the league with a 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio. She also shot a team-best 42.7 percent from three-point range (4th in the MVC) for the second-best season three-point field goal percentage in Bradley history behind Kelly Frings school record of .431 from 2010-11. Her 108 assists last year were the most by a Brave since Kelsey Budd in 2013-14 (114).

Overall, Bradley returns nine letterwinners from last year's 22-win squad and welcomes five newcomers to the squad. Among the five newcomers are a pair of NCAA Division I transfers in Uche Ufochukwu (Winthrop) and Chloe Rice (Saint Louis) to go with three freshmen that all check in at 5-11 or taller.

The complete non-conference schedule will be announced at a later date. Bradley will open the MVC schedule Dec. 31, hosting Drake at Renaissance Coliseum.

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