EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Senior Gabi Haack scored a season-high 27 points and Bradley hit a season-best 14 three-pointers as the Braves pulled away down the stretch for a 77-57 victory Saturday at Meeks Fieldhouse to sweep the weekend series from the Purple Aces.
Bradley (9-4 overall, 5-1 MVC) extended its win streak to five games and claimed its ninth consecutive contest in the series with Evansville (4-7 overall, 0-6 MVC). The Braves are 5-1 or better to start Missouri Valley Conference play for just the second time in school history after opening league action 7-0 last year.
BU's 14 three-pointers is tied for the second-best single game total in school history behind 17 trey's made at Evansville on Jan. 21, 2018.
Haack was an impressive 6-for-10 from beyond the arc, finishing with a season-high 27 points to go with eight rebounds and six assists. Junior Tatum Koenig added a season-best 15 points of her own, while Lasha Petree made five of her final six shots from the field and collected all 15 of her points in a 7:35 span between the end of the third quarter and early stages of the fourth period.
Haack knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the first 90 seconds and the Braves nailed a trio of three-pointers during an 11-3 run to open the contest. Haack nearly matched her scoring total from Friday night's contest (13 points) in the opening period, scoring 11 points in the opening 10 minutes to help Bradley to a 23-11 lead after one quarter of play. She scored or assisted five of Bradley's six baskets in the first.
The Braves had their biggest lead of the first half (25-11) after a Haack layup to start the second quarter. Evansville answered by hitting a trio of three-pointers during an 11-2 run that saw the Purple Aces cut the BU advantage to 27-22 nearing the midway point of the second quarter.
Bradley went scoreless for a near three-minute stretch before Haack broke the dry spell for the Braves with her fourth trey of the night. Koenig followed with a three-pointer of her own as the Braves quickly pushed the advantage back to double digits. The fifth Haack three-pointer of the first half gave BU a 36-24 edge near the two-minute mark of the second.
Evansville didn't go quietly, however, scoring five points in the final five seconds of the half and ending the first half with an 8-0 run to cut Bradley's lead to 36-32 at the break.
Haack opened the third quarter with a three-point play, sparking an 8-1 Bradley run over the first 3:35 of the period that saw the Braves push the lead back to 11 (44-33).
Evansville made just two field goals in the third quarter, coupled with six turnovers as the Braves limited the Purple Aces to just eight points in the period.
The MVC's leading scorer, Petree was scoreless for the first 26 minutes of the contest before rattling off eight consecutive points that highlighted a 13-4 BU spurt to close the period as the Braves took a 57-40 lead into the final period.
Petree added seven points in the first 4:22 of the fourth, scoring 15 points in a span of seven-and-a-half minutes as Bradley built a 68-46 advantage with just under six minutes to play. The Braves pushed the lead to as many as 27 points, cruising to the 77-57 victory.
Haack scored 19 of her game-high 27 points in the opening half, passing Katie Yohn for eighth on Bradley's all-time scoring list. Petree also moved up on Bradley's scoring charts, overtaking Raisa Taylor for 12th place.
Bradley returns to Renaissance Coliseum next weekend, opening a two-game series against Loyola with a 6 p.m. contest Friday night.