ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Senior Gabi Haack and junior Lasha Petree tied for team high honors with 18 points each, but a cold-shooting second half did the Braves in as Saint Louis topped Bradley Women's Basketball 69-54 Sunday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena.
A short-handed Bradley (2-2 overall) squad that was missing starter Nyjah White, kept pace with Saint Louis (2-0 overall) through the first 26 minutes, before a late third-quarter push by the Billikens.
Making her first career start, sophomore Mahri Petree scored the first four points of the contest for the Braves and collected six of her 11 points in the first quarter. Bradley took a 13-12 lead on a Haack three-pointer late in the first and the teams were knotted at 14-14 after the opening 10 minutes of play.
A Lasha Petree three near the seven-minute mark of the second quarter tied things up at 19-19, only to have Saint Louis answer with an 8-0 spurt as the Billikens built a 27-19 advantage.
Haack knocked down a runner in the lane to start a 10-2 Bradley run that pulled the Braves even at 29-29. Uche Ufochukwu beat the shot clock with a layup and back-to-back three's by Tatum Koenig and Haack followed a SLU basket, tying the game up at 29-29 with 1:17 left in the half. The Billikens would eventually take a 32-31 lead into the locker room at the break.
Haack scored nine points in the first six minutes of the third quarter and kept Bradley within striking distance with her third three-pointer of the day; pulling the Braves with two at 42-40 nearing the midway point of the third.
Bradley got back-to-back three's from the Petree sisters later in the third, but Saint Louis outscored the Braves 13-6 over the final 3:20 of the period as the Braves trailed 57-48 heading to the fourth.
Both teams went cold from the field in the fourth, combining to shoot 7-for-30. Saint Louis was able to extend the lead to as many as 14 (62-48) in the early stages of the stanza and the Billikens' lead never dipped below double digits down the stretch as the Braves fell 69-54 for the first road loss of the year.
For the third time in four games, Haack hit at least a trio of three pointers and finished with 18 points to go with seven rebounds. Mahri Petree pulled down a team-high eight rebounds to go with her 11 points, while her sister Lasha blocked five shots and came away with two steals along with her 18-point effort. Koenig dished out a career-best nine assists for the Braves.
Bradley has a week off from competition, hosting Northern Illinois next Sunday at 2 p.m. to open a two-game home stand.