Northern Illinois NIU 2-3

Bradley BRAD 3-2

Northern Illinois NIU

2-3

Final

Dec. 13, 2020

Bradley BRAD

3-2

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Northern Illinois NIU	14	24	18	15	71
Bradley BRAD	17	13	21	28	79

Box Score

Josh Schwam

Petree's 30 Helps Braves Rally For 79-71 Win Over Northern Illinois

Box Score

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 12/13/2020 5:31:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Junior Lasha Petree scored 26 of her season-best 30 points in the second half, including 17 points in the fourth quarter, to help Bradley Women's Basketball erase a 10-point deficit and top visiting Northern Illinois 79-71 Sunday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.

Limited to just four points in the first half due to foul trouble, Petree took over down the stretch; collecting 22 of Bradley's final 35 points over the last 11:30 of the contest. She finished with a season-best 30 points for her third career 30-point outing, with her 26 second-half points the most in a half by a Brave since Genny Mueller had 26 in the second half of a home victory against Indiana State on March 6, 2004.

Bradley (3-2 overall) opened the contest with a 9-2 lead, capped by back-to-back baskets by Petree and the Braves held a 17-14 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Northern Illinois held Bradley to just three points over the first four-plus minutes of the second quarter, however, as the Huskies eventually took a 38-30 lead into the locker room at the half.

Northern Illinois (2-3 overall) had the largest lead of the game for either squad (40-30) after scoring the first points of the third quarter. The NIU lead was nine (49-40) with just under three minutes when Petree took over the contest. After scoring five points in the first 27 minutes of the game, she would go on to score 25 points over the final 13 minutes.

Petree got things started with a three-point play with 2:52 left in the third and her fastbreak layup with 1:32 remaining in the period made it a five-point deficit (51-46). Petree later added the first of her three three-pointers in the final minute of the stanza as Bradley trailed 56-51 heading to the fourth.

Petree had five points in the first three minutes of the fourth, but Bradley was still facing a 62-59 deficit with just under seven minutes left. Her second three-pointer of the contest knotted things up at 64-64 with 5:41 on the clock and sparked a 13-3 BU run. A Nyjah White basket near the five-minute mark gave the Braves their first lead since the opening moments of the second quarter.

After Northern Illinois quickly recaptured the lead, another Petree three-pointer put Bradley in front for good with just under four minutes remaining. Petree, who single handedly outscored Northern Illinois 17-15 in the fourth quarter, would score nine points during the BU run that gave the Braves a 74-67 edge with 1:51 on the clock.

With Bradley holding a 74-71 lead closing in on one minute to play, Petree helped seal the win with a steal at half court that led to a five-point possession for the Braves. Northern Illinois was called for an intentional foul on Petree's breakaway layup that was part of a three-point play. Senior Gabi Haack added two more free throws a few seconds later to give Bradley its largest lead of the day at 79-71 and lock up the victory.

Petree's 30-point performance moved her up three spots on Bradley's all-time scoring list into a tie with head coach Andrea Gorski for 21st in school history at 980 points. White finished with her second double-double of the year (17 points & 10 rebounds) to go with four assists and two steals. Junior Tatum Koenig scored a season high 12 points, in addition to dishing out seven assists without a turnover, while Haack joined the trio in double figures with 11 points.

The win was Bradley's ninth straight against an in-state non-conference opponent and snapped a five-game losing skid in the series with Northern Illinois.

Bradley continues the home stand Thursday, hosting Summit League preseason favorite South Dakota in a 1 p.m. contest at Renaissance Coliseum.

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