TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Bradley Women's Basketball tied the program record for wins in a season, topping Indiana State on the road 68-59 behind a double-double from senior Chelsea Brackmann and a game-high 24 points from sophomore Lasha Petree as the Braves collected their 21st win of the season Thursday at the Hulman Center.
Brackmann posted her 25th career double-double and fifth of the year with 14 points and 15 rebounds, as she tallied seven points, nine rebounds, three steals and four blocks in the second half. Petree turned in her 10th 20-point game of the season, scoring 15 of her game-high 24 points in the first half.
Four Bradley (21-7 overall, 12-5 MVC) starters scored in double figures in BU's 21st win of the year that tied the school record for wins originally set by the 2008-09 squad (21-10). In addition, the Braves matched the program record with their 12th Missouri Valley Conference victory of the year. The 2009-10 team was the last Bradley squad to win 12 league games, while head coach Andrea Gorski's sophomore year of 1989-90 was the first team on The Hilltop to collect 12 conference victories.
Junior Nyjah White (12 points) and Gabi Haack (11 points) joined Brackmann and Petree in double figures for the Braves, who locked up sole possession of third in the MVC regular-season strandings.
Petree highlighted the first quarter for Bradley, scoring eight points during a five-minute stretch as she helped the Braves to a 20-16 lead at the end of the opening period. Indiana State (5-24, 3-14 MVC) took advantage of 10 first-half Bradley turnovers, however, and never let BU push the lead beyond seven points in the opening 20 minutes.
Bradley's lead was 34-28 after a Petree basket with just under four minutes to play in the second. The Sycamores held the Braves to one field goal the final three-and-a-half minutes of the half and outscored the Braves 7-2 over that span to pull within one (36-35) at the break.
Indiana State took its first lead of the contest in the first minute of the third quarter and the Sycamores led 40-39 when Petree knocked down consecutive three-pointers to give the Braves a 45-40 advantage midway through the third. The back-to-back trey's were part of an 8-0 BU run capped by a White fade-away jumper with 2:43 left in the frame that gave Bradley a 47-40 advantage.
Sophomore Tatum Koenig opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer to give Bradley its largest lead until that point at 51-43. State managed to cut the Bradley lead to five a few times down the stretch, however, with the last coming at 64-59 with 2:20 to play.
Brackmann, who had seven points, five rebounds and three blocks in the fourth, had a putback basket with two minutes left and blocked a shot on the defensive end. Koenig split a pair of free throws near the one-minute mark and a Brackmann free throw with 42.3 seconds left put the finishing touches on the 68-59 road victory. Indiana State went scoreless the final 2:20 of the game, going 0-of-5 from the field down the stretch.
Petree's 24-point effort pushed her season scoring total to 469 points for the 10th-best season output in Bradley history and highest season scoring mark since Sara Bailey totaled 487 points as a junior in 2001-02.
Marie Hunter led Indiana State in scoring with 18 points, while Jamyra McChristine had a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards.
Bradley closes out the regular-season schedule Saturday with a 1 p.m. game at Evansville.