PEORIA, Ill. – On the heels of closing out a season-long, three-game road swing with a 61-51 victory at Valparaiso last Friday, Bradley Women's Basketball returns to Renaissance Coliseum this week to host Northern Iowa in a two-game series Friday and Saturday.
The Braves (11-7 overall, 7-4 MVC) are tied for third in the Missouri Valley Conference standings leading into Friday's series opener that tips off at 6 p.m. Bradley and Northern Iowa (8-8 overall, 5-4 MVC) wrap up the series Saturday with a 4 p.m. contest at Renaissance Coliseum.
Both games will be available on ESPN3 and BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats and the WIRL 1290 AM radio broadcast.
Bradley wraps up the regular-season schedule with five of the final seven games at home, where the Braves are 6-3 on the year. BU has played a league-high nine home games to date and the team's six home victories are tied for the most in the MVC this season. Bradley has won seven consecutive February home games dating back to a Feb. 18, 2018 loss to Indiana State and the Braves are 12-3 in February home contests under fifth-year head coach Andrea Gorski.
BU and Northern Iowa split the regular-season series last year, with Bradley's home win snapping a 16-game skid in the series. BU's last six victories in the series have all come in home contests. UNI holds a 44-35 advantage in the all-time series, but the Braves hold a 23-14 edge in games played in Peoria. Three of the last four meetings have been decided by seven points or fewer, with the lone exception in that stretch Bradley's victory last year.
Last Friday's victory at Valparaiso improved the Braves to 5-0 in the second games of series this season, while Bradley is 2-3 in series openers (back-to-back games only). While BU has been better offensively in openers (72.2 ppg vs. 71.0 ppg), the Braves have limited foes to 61.2 points per outing in series finales and averaged over three more free throw attempts in the rematches.
West Branch, Iowa, native Tatum Koenig has averaged 12.5 points per game in her last six contests against teams from the state of Iowa, while shooting a blistering 63 percent (17-for-27) from three-point range in those matchups after she averaged 10.0 points per game in the opening weekend of conference play at Drake back in early January.
Senior Gabi Haack was named one of 30 national candidates for the Senior CLASS Award on Feb. 8, marking the second straight year and fifth time overall the Braves had a candidate for the honor. An elementary education major with a 3.80 grade point average, Haack is third in the MVC in both scoring and rebounding. The MVC's active career scoring leader, Haack is one of two players in the nation with 50 made three-pointers, 50 made free throws and 125 or more rebounds.
Bradley is 5-4 in road games this year and 4-3 in MVC road contests with only a pair of games at league-leading Missouri State remaining on the road slate after last week's victory at Valparaiso. BU's five overall road wins is third in the MVC and the four league road victories is tied with Drake and Missouri State for most in the conference this year. The Braves have posted seven road wins each of the last two years. Bradley's four MVC road wins this season is tied for the team's highest total dating back to Andrea Gorski's senior year of 1991-92 when the Braves went 6-3 on the road in league play.
Bradley follows up the weekend home series with the last two road games of the regular-season, with the Braves taking on league-leading Missouri State Feb. 19 & 20 in Springfield, Mo.
