PEORIA, Ill. -- Senior Nyjah White scored a career-high 29 points in addition to collecting 10 rebounds, five assists, a block and three steals as she helped Bradley Women's Basketball to a 78-63 victory over Northern Iowa Saturday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.
The Braves (12-8 overall, 8-5 MVC) improved to 6-0 in the second games of series on the year with the victory, salvaging a split of the season series with the Panthers (9-9 overall, 6-5 MVC).
White turned in her team-best fourth double-double of the year, scoring a career-best 29 points on 11-for-19 shooting. She was joined in double figures by fellow senior Gabi Haack, who finished with 21 points and took over sole possession of sixth on Bradley's all-time scoring list.
The Braves took control of the contest early, limiting UNI to just three first-quarter field goals. White sparked an 11-0 BU run with a three-point play midway through the opening period and scored the first seven points of the spurt as she helped Bradley build a 16-7 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
White opened the second quarter with a hoop to push the lead into double digits and the BU advantage was 29-13 with four minutes to play in the second following a Mahri Petree three-pointer. Haack took over down the stretch to close the opening half, scoring nine points in the last 2:20 of action and nearly made it 11 points down the stretch, but had a halftime buzzer-beating runner waved off. She opened an 11-3 Bradley spurt with a three-point play and sandwiched a pair of three-pointers around another White basket, helping the Braves build a commanding 42-21 halftime lead. Bradley shot a blistering 62.5 percent from the field in second quarter (10-for-16).
Northern Iowa chipped away at the Bradley advantage in the third, outscoring the Braves 18-4 over the first seven-plus minutes to pull within seven at 46-39. White snapped a 3:30 scoreless stretch for Bradley with a three-point play as the Braves held a 53-45 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
A three-point play by Karli Rucker on the first possession of the fourth, pulled UNI to within five (53-48); only to have White answer with yet another three-point play. In fact, Bradley collected three straight three-point plays, one by White and back-to-back by Haack; quickly pushing the lead back to 14 (62-48) over an 85-second stretch. A White steal and pair of Haack free throws, capped what was an 11-0 BU run that extended the lead back to 16 (64-48).
Northern Iowa managed to get back to within 10 with just under four minutes to play, but White's fifth three-point play of the afternoon pushed the lead back to 13 (71-58) with 3:39 left and the Braves went on to close out the 78-63 victory.
Bradley converted eight of an impressive nine three-point play opportunities on the day, making 14-of-17 free throw attempts. White scored her 900th career point as she topped her previous career-best scoring effort of 23 points set against Western Illinois on Dec. 4, 2018 with her game-high 29 points. Haack entered the game tied with Karin Nicolls for sixth in career scoring at Bradley and now has 1,482 career points after her 21-point performance.
Junior Tatum Koenig dished out six assists without a turnover, while senior Emily Marsh had nine points and six rebounds off the bench to help lead the Bradley efforts.
The Braves return to action next weekend, heading to Springfield, Mo., for a two-game series with league-leading and nationally ranked Missouri State Feb. 19 & 20.