PEORIA, Ill. -- Junior Gabi Haack and senior Chelsea Brackmann each had double-doubles and Bradley Women's Basketball turned in one of its best defensive efforts of the season as the Braves rolled to a 71-50 victory over Loyola Sunday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.
Haack collected 16 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals in 35 minutes of action, while Brackmann scored a game-high 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting in addition to matching Haack with 11 rebounds to help Bradley (19-4 overall, 10-2 MVC) to its 17th consecutive home win.
Junior Nyjah White scored 13 of her 17 points in the first half and finished the day 7-for-11 from the field to join the pair in double figures.
The Braves held Loyola to just 31.7 percent shooting as Bradley completed the regular-season sweep of the Ramblers (15-9 overall, 6-7 MVC).
Currently alone in second in the Missouri Valley Conference standings at 10-2, Bradley matched its MVC win total from last year and has 10 or more league wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2008-09 (11) and 2009-10 (12). In addition, the Braves are now 39-14 overall since the start of the 2018-19, matching the school record for wins in a two-year period. The 1979-80 (20-9) and 1980-81 (19-8) squads combined for a 19-17 record.
Bradley got off to a slow start offensively, making just 1-of-6 from the field to start the game and trailed 6-5 nearing the five-minute mark of the first period. Sophomore Tatum Koenig started an 11-2 BU run to close the quarter with a driving layup as the Braves led 16-8 after the opening 10 minutes. Five different Bradley players scored during the run to close the opening quarter with the Braves making 6-of-9 from the field after the sluggish start.
An 8-2 Bradley run to start the second quarter pushed the BU advantage to 24-10. White scored five of her 13 first-half points during the spurt, scoring nine in the period to help Bradley to a 31-20 halftime lead.
Loyola pulled to within seven points in the opening minutes of the third quarter and the BU lead was 38-30 closing in on five minutes to play in the frame when Bradley would go on another run. Bradley held the Ramblers without a field goal for a four-minute stretch, using a 9-2 run to push the lead back to 15 (47-32). The Braves did the bulk of their damage during that span at the free throw line with Haack going 5-for-6 from the stripe and Brackmann added a pair of free throws of her own. Brackmann eventually capped the spurt with a layup after a Haack steal.
Brackmann and Haack helped Bradley seal the game with a 10-2 run early in the fourth. Loyola trailed 51-40 after scoring the first points of the final period before Brackmann got free inside for a layup to spark the spurt. Brackmann assisted a Haack three-pointer at the seven-minute mark and then had another layup following a pair of Rambler free throws. After a defensive stop, Haack assisted Brackmann's first three-pointer since December 5, 2017 as the Braves pushed the lead to 61-42 nearing the midway point of the fourth.
Back-to-back Loyola three-pointers quickly trimmed the Bradley lead to 13, but the Ramblers got no closer as the Braves answered with a 10-0 run to cruise to the 71-50 victory.
Brackmann moved up two more spots on Bradley's career scoring list into 15th, passing Devyn Flanagan (1,032 points) and Val Wancket (1,048 points). In addition, Brackmann pulled down her 900th career rebound and is now 17th in MVC history with 909 career boards. Notching her 24th career double-double (3rd in BU history), Brackmann tied the school career record with her 36th career double-digit rebounding game to match the mark originally set by Sonya Harris (2007-10).
Sam Galanopoulos led Loyola with 12 points off the bench, while Abby O'Connor joined her in double figures with 10 points.
The victory sets up a big matchup with second-place Bradley visiting third-place Drake (18-7 overall, 10-3 MVC) in a battle for sole possession of second-place in the Valley standings. The Braves and Bulldogs tip things off Thursday at 6 p.m. in Des Moines, Iowa.