Wright St. WSU 0-1,0-0 Horizon

Bradley Brad 1-0,0-0 MVC

Wright St. WSU

0-1,0-0 Horizon

Final

Nov. 09, 2021

Bradley Brad

1-0,0-0 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Wright St. WSU	18	12	19	16	65
Bradley Brad	24	21	23	16	84

Box Score

Caroline Waite 3-pointer vs Wright State

Bradley Women Roll in Season-Opener, 84-65

Freshman Caroline Waite scored a game-high 23 points and Daija Powell added 18 in her debut to lead Bradley by 2021 NCAA Tourney team Wright State

Photo Gallery

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 11/9/2021 9:38:00 PM | Bobby Parker, Sr. Associate AD for Communications and Event & Facility Operations

PEORIA, IL – Bradley Women's Basketball celebrated its first-ever Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament appearance with a ring presentation and banner unveil ceremony pregame, but did not show any signs of a celebratory hangover, dealing fellow 2021 NCAA Tournament participant Wright State an 84-65 defeat Tuesday night at Renaissance Coliseum.

Without banners no more! #Squad46 got it done! pic.twitter.com/kel7NbOr3B
— Bradley WBB (@BradleyWBB) November 10, 2021

The 19-point victory was Bradley's best season-opening margin of victory since taking down Saint Louis, 86-49, Nov. 27, 1987 at the old Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse. Freshman Caroline Waite just missed out on the Bradley freshman debut scoring record, finishing with a game-high 23 points, and sophomore forward Daija Powell tacked on a career-best 18 points, while sharing team-high honors with six rebounds, in her Bradley debut. Fifth-year senior guard Gabi Haack added 14 points, a game-high and career-best-matching eight assists and five boards in a solid all-around effort.

Channing Chappell led Wright State with 18 points, while Jada Roberson and Destyne Jackson each scored 14 to complete the double-digit efforts. Constance Chaplin pulled down a game-high nine rebounds off the bench, including eight on the offensive end.

Bradley's ball movement was impressive from the start as the Braves finished with 25 assists on their 31 field goals. After answering a 7-0 Wright State flurry that gave the Raiders a 7-5 lead, Haack buried a 3-pointer with 6:50 left in the first quarter to put the Brave ahead for good, 8-7.

After building the lead to 24-18 at the end of the first quarter, the lead dipped to 29-25 midway through the second, before a Waite triple launched a 16-5 surge to close the half, capped off by Tatum Koenig's running, 35-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 45-30 lead at the break.

HALFTIME: BU 45, WSU 30

Trying to figure out which clip to take us into halftime, then Tatum Koenig decided for us.

📊 https://t.co/qE6xySSx13 pic.twitter.com/E4C7kb0g6J
— Bradley WBB (@BradleyWBB) November 10, 2021

Wright State again chipped away at its deficit in the third quarter, but after the Raiders pulled to within 10, 59-49, with 2:33 left in the quarter, senior Chloe Rice led another closing surge by the Braves with five points, an assist and a rebound to trigger a 9-0 finish to the quarter. Koenig again beat the buzzer at the end of the third, this time with a jumper in the lane, for a 68-49 advantage through 30 minutes.

3Q | BU 68, WSU 49

Chloe Rice with a corner trey, an And 1 🎥, an assist and a rebound in the final 2:15 of the quarter to help the Braves close the quarter on a 9-0 run.

📊 https://t.co/qE6xySSx13 pic.twitter.com/GGI21jI8Ee
— Bradley WBB (@BradleyWBB) November 10, 2021

Bradley's lead remained between 17 and 22 the entire fourth quarter.

The Braves finished the game 31-of-58 (.534) shooting from the field, including 13-of-27 (.481) from 3-point range with six different student-athletes draining at least one triple. Wright State went 23-for-68 (.338) from the floor and 8-of-32 (.250) from beyond the arc. Bradley also finished with a 41-37 rebounding edge. Sierra Morrow shared team-high rebounding honors with six boards to go along with six points, five assists and a blocked shot in her Bradley debut.

The Braves will have nearly a week to enjoy their season-opening win, before turning to a family rivalry for their second game Monday when they host Upper Iowa in a 6:30 p.m. tip at Renaissance Coliseum. While Gabi Haack has closed to within 26 points of breaking the Bradley Women's Basketball career scoring record, her younger sister, Lydia, was Upper Iowa's leading scorer as a freshman last season.

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