PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Women's Basketball opens a season-long, three-game road swing and closes out the first half of the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season schedule Wednesday with a 6 p.m. contest at I-74 rival Illinois State as the Braves try to hold on to sole possession of second place in the MVC standings.
The first MVC team to reach the 10-win mark, Bradley (10-5 overall, 6-2 MVC) enters Wednesday's outing at Redbird Arena alone in second in the Valley standings at 6-2 after splitting last weekend's series with Loyola. Illinois State (8-3 overall, 5-3 MVC) sits one game behind the Braves in a tie for third with the mid-week tilt closing out a five-game home stand for the Redbirds.
Wednesday's game will be available on ESPN+ and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats and the WIRL 1290 AM radio broadcast.
The Braves are 6-2 or better to start league play for the fourth time in program history and a victory Wednesday at Illinois State would mark just the third time Bradley was at least 7-2 at the halfway point of the conference slate (2019-20 and 1989-90).
Bradley has swept the regular-season series with Illinois State each of the last two years and has claimed four of the last five matchups against the Redbirds. The Braves have won at Redbird Arena each of the last three trips and BU is 5-2 on the road against ISU over the last seven seasons.
Wednesday's game at Illinois State kicks off a season-long, three-game road swing for the Braves and mark's Bradley lone in-state road game on the 2020-21 schedule. The Braves have played at least three road games in the Land of Lincoln every year since 2000-01 (2) and have at least one road victory in the Prairie State every year dating back to 2006-07 (0-4). Dating back to last year, Bradley's last 10 true road games have all been played outside the state of Illinois; marking the longest such streak in program history.
Junior Lasha Petree has certainly had her fair share of success in the I-74 rivalry, averaging an impressive 20.4 points per game in five career outings against the Redbirds. In fact, Petree has scored 16 or more in each of her five games against Illinois State and has had 21 or better three times. She has made 16-of-32 (50 percent) three-pointers vs. the Redbirds and has also averaged 2.4 blocks. In her two previous outings at Redbird Arena, Petree has games of 21 (freshman) and 22 (sophomore), while shooting 8-for-15 from beyond the arc.
Fellow Junior Tatum Koenig scored a season-best 16 points Saturday against Loyola, hitting five-of-six three-point attempts. Koenig, who has scored 15 or more in two of the last three games and has four of her five double-digit scoring efforts this year in Valley play, tied for the fourth-best single-game three-point percentage in school history (minimum five made three's) with her 5-for-6 effort. The last time a Bradley player was 5-for-6 or better was a 6-for-7 performance from beyond the arc by Kelsey Budd vs. Indiana State on Jan. 14, 2012. Koenig is shooting 51.6 percent from three-point range (16-for-31) in Valley play this season. Her career 41.3 three-point field goal percentage is the best in Bradley history.
Petree and Gabi Haack continue to rank one-two in scoring in the Missouri Valley Conference and the pair make up one of just six combos in the nation in which both individuals have 30 or more made three-pointers this season. In fact, Petree and Haack have combined for more three-pointers this season (73) than 206 other teams in the country through Sunday's games. Haack, who is fifth in the nation in total three-pointers (43), has hit a three-pointer in 19 consecutive contests for the third longest streak in school history and moved into a tie for 15th in MVC history in career three-pointers, while Petree is the only player in the nation to have 30 or more blocks (35) and make at least 10 three-pointers (30). Bradley is averaging a school record 8.0 three-pointers per game this year.
Bradley will have a week off from competition following Wednesday's game at Illinois State, opening the second half of the league slate with a two-game series at Valparaiso Feb. 4 & 5.
