PEORIA, Ill. -- Junior Tatum Koenig nailed five three-pointers, finishing with a season-best 16 points to pace three Bradley players in double figures as the Braves salvaged a split in the weekend series against Loyola with a 57-55 victory Saturday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.
Koenig was 5-for-6 from beyond the arc, tying the fourth-best performance in school history (minimum five made three-pointers) and finished with a season-high 16 points to lead Bradley (10-5 overall, 6-2 MVC) in the win. Seniors Nyjah White and Gabi Haack each finished a rebound short of a double-double. White had 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four steals, while Haack also had nine boards to go with her 10 points and two blocked shots.
The victory gave the Braves sole possession of second in the MVC standings nearing the midway point of the Valley's regular-season schedule and Bradley is the first team in the conference to reach the 10-win mark.
Loyola (5-4 overall, 3-2 MVC) held Bradley to just 28.1 percent shooting in the first half and the Ramblers led 29-28 at the break.
The Braves put the clamps on defensively in the third quarter, holding Loyola to just two baskets (2-for-13) in the period. The Ramblers opened the scoring in the second half with a Maya Chandler basket in the lane, only to have Bradley answer with a 9-2 spurt.
Koenig started the run with a three-pointer and added another one during the burst that saw the Braves take a 37-33 lead nearing the four-minute mark of the period. Loyola went over six minutes between baskets, before Chandler ended the Rambler drought with a layup with 3:03 to play in the stanza.
Bradley was able to extend the lead to six (43-37) by the end of the third quarter.
Haack extended her streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointers to 19 consecutive contests, knocking down her lone triple of the day in the early moments of the fourth to give the Braves a 46-39 advantage. Bradley had its largest lead of the game moments later at 48-40 after a Nyjah White layup, before Loyola would storm back.
The Ramblers scored seven straight points to pull within one (48-47) before a Lasha Petree three-point play with 2:30 left made it a two-possession game at 51-47.
After a Loyola hoop cut the BU lead to two once again, White pulled down three offensive rebounds on the next trip down the floor for the Braves and her put-back basket with 1:41 to play gave Bradley a 53-49 edge.
Bradley split free throws with 29.1 seconds and 22.7 seconds left to make it a six-point advantage (55-49), but Loyola got a three-pointer from Chandler with 18.0 seconds on the clock to cut the lead in half. After making 8-of-8 free throws Friday night against Loyola, sophomore Mahri Petree made both of her attempts from the charity stripe with 16.3 seconds remaining to push the BU lead back to 57-52. Chandler knocked down another three-pointer in the closing seconds, but Bradley managed to close out the 57-55 victory.
For the first time this season Lasha Petree was unable to score in double figures, finishing with nine points. The junior collected a season-best seven rebounds, however, and also matched a career-high with six blocked shots in addition to coming up with two steals to help lead a BU defensive effort that posted a season-high 11 blocks. The Braves tied for the fourth-best single-game block total in school history (11), posting the team's most rejections since an 11-block game at Winthrop Nov. 18, 2011.
Bradley opens a season-long, three-game road swing Wednesday with a 6 p.m. game at I-74 rival Illinois State to mark the halfway point of the MVC regular-season schedule.