PEORIA, Ill. – After splitting a pair of road games last week and having a break to start finals, Bradley Women's Basketball returns to action this weekend with the Braves opening a two-game Sunday against in-state foe Northern Illinois. The Braves and Huskies will tip things off at 2 p.m. at Renaissance Coliseum.
Both teams enter Sunday's contest with 2-2 records and both squads are looking to rebound from losses in their last outing. Bradley was without Nyjah White for last Sunday's setback at Saint Louis, while Northern Illinois suffered an 82-79 home loss in its Mid-American Conference opener Thursday to Toledo.
Sunday's game will be available on ESPN+ and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to the WIRL 1290 AM radio broadcast along with live stats.
Northern Illinois holds a 12-7 lead in the all-time series that dates back to the 1978-79 season, with the teams splitting 10 games played in Peoria. NIU will be making its fifth appearance at Renaissance Coliseum with the squads splitting the four previous matchups at the facility. The teams will be meeting for the first time since Nov. 29, 2017. The two-year hiatus in the series came after the squads played 12 consecutive years between the 2006-07 and 2017-18 campaigns.
Sunday's game will mark the 13th time in the last 14 years Bradley has played at least one non-conference game against a team from the Mid-American, with the lone exception during that stretch the 2018-19 campaign. The Braves are 20-25 against MAC opponents all-time after a 79-68 home win last year over Miami (Ohio). Bradley is 14-9 all-time in home games against teams from the MAC.
Bradley was 7-1 against in-state opponents last season and the Braves are 16-3 in games played in the state of Illinois (including conference games) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. The Braves have won eight consecutive games against in-state non-conference opponents and are 10-4 against non-conference squads from Illinois under fifth-year head coach Andrea Gorski. Overall, Bradley is 62-36 (.633) against non-conference opponents from Illinois dating back to 1995-96. Since joining the Gateway Conference for the 1983-84 season the Braves are 48-20 (.706) at home against in-state non-conference opponents, which includes a 38-15 (.717) mark since 1994-95.
The Braves are 12-1 in their last 13 non-conference home contests and 15-2 at home against non-conference foes since the last time Northern Illinois visited Renaissance Coliseum on Dec. 2, 2016. Bradley owns a 17-5 home mark at home in non-conference contests during Gorski's tenure.
Bradley has limited opponents to 34.8 percent shooting and foes have made just 24-of-89 (27 percent) three-pointers on the young season. MVC Preseason Player of the Year Lasha Petree collected a season-high five blocks and also had two steals Sunday at Saint Louis, pushing her conference-leading block total to nine after the junior led the MVC in rejections last year. Petree currently ranks ninth in Bradley history with 90 career blocked shots.
With senior Gabi Haack closing in on the top 25 in Missouri Valley Conference history in career three-pointers, she is also looking to join an even more elite list. Haack is currently two three-pointers from matching Jackie Stiles' career total of 221 three-pointers for 25th in league history, but she is also one rebound from 550 in her career. Only six players in Valley history have connected on at least 220 trey's and pulled down at least 550 or more boards. Haack has a chance to become just the fifth Valley player with 220 trey's and 600 career rebounds, hoping to join Jenni Lingor of Missouri State and Creighton's Laura Spanheimer along with the Drake duo of Becca Hittner and Lizzie Wendell in the exclusive group. Stephanie Watts of North Carolina is the only active player in the nation with 220 career three's and at least 550 rebounds.
Sophomore Mahri Petree made her first career start Sunday at Saint Louis, after she was the first Brave off the bench in each of the first three games of the season. Mahri, who finished with 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds against the Billikens, joined her older sister Lasha in the starting lineup. Through four games, the Petrees have combined for seven double figure scoring efforts and one double-double. Mahri is averaging 9.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while Lasha paces the team in scoring at 18.8 ppg and blocks (2.3 per game). The Petrees are the fifth highest scoring sister duo in the nation through games of Dec. 6, combining to score 27.8 points per game after they scored 20.8 points per outing last year.
Following Sunday's game against Northern Illinois, Bradley is scheduled to host Summit League preseason favorite South Dakota Thursday at 1 p.m.
