EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Bradley shot 64 percent from the field in the second half and used a 16-0 third quarter run to pull away from Evansville as the Braves earned their school record 22
nd win of the season with a 71-53 victory at Evansville Saturday afternoon to close out the regular season.
In addition to topping the previous school record for wins in a year of 21 from 2008-09, Bradley (22-7 overall, 13-5 MVC) picked up its program record 13
th Missouri Valley Conference win.
The Braves used a balanced attack with all 11 players scoring in the contest. Eight different Bradley players scored at least five points, paced by junior
Nyjah White's 12 points. Senior
Chelsea Brackmann fell just short of a double-double, collecting nine points and nine rebounds to go with four blocks.
A 7-2 spurt gave Bradley its largest lead of the first quarter at 16-9 with three minutes to play in the period. Evansville (3-26 overall, 0-18 MVC) outscored the Braves 7-2 down the stretch to cut the BU lead to 18-16 at the end of the first.
Bradley opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run, which included back-to-back layups by
Lasha Petree as the Braves pushed the advantage to 27-16 with just under seven minutes left in the period. Evansville took advantage of a three-minute Bradley drought to pull within five (27-22), but the Braves were able to push the lead back to nine (32-23) by the end of the opening half. Evansville shot just 2-of-11 from the field in the second quarter and committed six turnovers in the frame.
The Braves made their first six shots to start the third quarter and a 16-0 run to open the period pushed the advantage to 48-23 closing in on four minutes left in the stanza. Bradley went on to outscore Evansville 25-6 in the third to push the lead to 57-29. Brackmann had five points and White added four to help highlight the spurt to start the second half.
The Bradley lead ballooned to 30 points (65-35) on a Ryan Wilkins three-pointer nearing the midpoint of the fourth quarter as the Braves cruised to the 71-53 road win. Bradley held Evansville to 35 percent shooting in the victory.
Lola Bracey scored 16 of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to lead Evansville and was the lone Aces player in double figures.
Brackmann moved into the top 10 in MVC history in career rebounding with her nine-rebound effort and is now tied with Drake's Rachel Hackbarth (2008-12) for ninth in league history with 953 career boards.
Petree matched Brackmann's four blocks to push her league-leading block total to 50. The first player in MVC history with at least 67 made three-pointers and 50 or more blocks in a season, Petree is one of just three players in the nation to collect 67 triples and block at least 50 shots over the last five years.
Bradley will face #6 seed Valparaiso Friday at 8:30 p.m. in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals in Moline, Ill.