Bradley University Athletics

MVC Unveils Women’s Basketball League Slate

2020-21 MVC Schedule

Women's Basketball 9/22/2020 1:25:00 PM

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- After a historic 2019-20 campaign which included a third-place Missouri Valley Conference finish, Bradley Women's Basketball will open the 2020-21 Valley slate at home for a third consecutive year, with the league unveiling the conference slate for the upcoming season Tuesday afternoon.

Bradley posted school records for overall (22) and MVC (13) victories in a season last year and returns over 80 percent of its scoring from last year's squad which was the first in program history to post back-to-back 20-win seasons. In fact, the Braves are the first team in MVC history to post an improved overall win total in five consecutive seasons.

A New Year's Eve home game against Drake kicks off the Valley slate. Bradley has opened the MVC schedule at home against Drake five previous times and this year's Valley opener will mark the seventh time the Braves will have faced the Bulldogs in a conference opener. Bradley last played a league opener in December in 2017-18 and will play a home December league game for the first time since 2011-12. The Braves close out the league-opening home stand Saturday, Jan. 2 against Northern Iowa.

Bradley's MVC road opener is slated for Jan. 8 at Southern Illinois, before the Braves visit defending MVC regular-season champion Missouri State (Jan. 10).

Playing four of the first six games at home, Bradley returns to Renaissance Coliseum for a matchup against Indiana State (Jan. 15), having won four straight against the Sycamores for the team's longest win streak in the series. Evansville visits Renaissance Coliseum Sunday, Jan. 17 as the Braves try to extend a seven-game win streak in the series with the Purple Aces.

A three-game road swing closes out the first half of the Valley slate. Bradley makes its annual trip to Normal, Jan. 22 for a matchup with I-74 rival Illinois State, having won each of the last three contests at Redbird Arena. The Braves travel to Valparaiso Jan. 29 and wrap up the first half of the Valley schedule Jan. 31 at Loyola.

Bradley will try to avenge its lone home loss of the entire 2019-20 season, Feb. 5 when the Braves host Missouri State. The Bears edged Bradley 69-66 in the final home game of 2019-20 to snap a school record 18-game home win streak which dated back to January 2018.

The Braves will play five February home games for the first time since 2011-12, closing out a two-game home stand Feb. 7 against Southern Illinois.

A Feb. 12 contest at Evansville falls before a Valentine's Day road game at Indiana State (Feb. 14) with Bradley winning seven of its last nine MVC contests played in the state of Indiana.

The final home stand of the season begins Feb. 19 with Bradley hosting Illinois State, followed by a home matchup with Loyola (Feb. 26). A Senior Day contest against Valparaiso (Feb. 28) marks the earliest the Braves finish out the regular-season home schedule since 2015-16.

For the second time in three years, Bradley concludes the regular season in Iowa, visiting Northern Iowa (March 4) and Drake (March 6). The MVC Championship is scheduled for March 11-14 in Moline, Ill.

Bradley's 2020-21 non-conference schedule will be announced at a later date.

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