Women’s Basketball Set For NCAA First Round Matchup With Texas

Missouri Valley Conference

Women's Basketball 3/19/2021 2:30:00 PM

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Making its first NCAA Tournament appearance, Bradley Women's Basketball will also play the first nationally televised game in program history when the Braves face Texas Monday at 7 p.m. in a NCAA Tournament First Round game on ESPN2.

Bradley (17-11 overall) received the #11 seed in the Hemisfair Region and will square off against #6 seed Texas (18-9 overall) Monday night in a game held at Texas State's University Events Center in San Marcos, Texas.

In addition being available on ESPN2, Monday's contest between the Braves and Longhorns can also be viewed through the ESPN app. The radio broadcast can be heard locally on WIRL 1290 AM with Ed Hammond on the play-by-play.

Bradley is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance, earning a spot in this year's 64-team field by claiming the first Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title in program history. The Braves had never played in the Valley championship game prior to this year's run, falling in each of the team's previous five trips to the MVC semifinals. Bradley was in line for a post-season bid last year, boasting a 22-7 overall record and finishing a program-best third in the Valley standings while owning a program-best RPI of 50 when the remainder of the season was cancelled leading into the MVC Tournament.

Bradley will be meeting Big 12 Conference foe Texas for the first time. In fact, the Braves haven't played a team from the Long Horn State since a trip to Dallas for a tournament at SMU during the 2006-07 season in the team's last trip to Texas. Monday's matchup will be Bradley's first game against a Big 12 opponent dating back to the completion of a home-and-home series with Oklahoma during the 2015-16 campaign. The Braves are 2-14 all-time against the Big 12 with both wins coming against former member Missouri.

While Bradley earned its first NCAA Tournament bid this year, the Braves will be playing in the postseason for the third time in program history. BU's last postseason appearance came in 2012 with Bradley reaching the second round of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI), following up an opening-round home win over Tennessee Tech with a loss at Minnesota. The Braves only other postseason appearance in program history was in the inaugural WBI (2010), where Bradley handed Louisville a first-round loss in the final game for the Cardinals at historic Freedom Hall before the venue closed. The 2009-10 season came to an end with a second-round loss at College of Charleston.

Fifth-year Bradley Women's Basketball Head Coach Andrea Gorski returned to her alma mater in 2016-17 and has built Bradley into a contender in the MVC. Taking over a team that won just four league games the year prior, she has guided Bradley to an improved win total each year, becoming only the second coach in MVC history to do so in their first four seasons at a Valley school. Two years prior to Gorski returning to Bradley, the Braves ranked 326 in the final RPI (2014-15) and the Braves had not been in the top 200 since 2012-13. Last year's historic season resulted in BU finishing in the top 100 of the RPI (#50) for the first time in program history as Bradley finished with school records for overall (22) and MVC (13) victories. This season, the Braves rank 79th in the final NET rankings.

Bradley played a full 25-game schedule during the regular season and enters the NCAA Tournament with a 17-11 mark. The Braves are one of just four teams in the nation to play 28 games with two of the other three teams (High Point & Florida Gulf Coast) joining Bradley in the NCAA Tournament field.

Bradley's senior class earned its 71st win in Sunday's MVC Tournament Championship and is one of just three BU senior classes to win as many as 70 contests during their time on The Hilltop. The last Bradley seniors to claim at least 70 victories was the 2011-12 class that played a part in 71 wins. The 1982-83 senior class had the most wins in a four-year period for the Braves, amassing 72 victories.

Bradley has won 17 or more games in three straight seasons for the first time as a member of the MVC with the only three-year stretch like that from 1979-80 through 1981-82 when the Braves won 19 or more in all three seasons. Bradley will finish with a winning overall record in three consecutive years for the first time dating back to a five-year stretch from 1977-78 through 1981-82. In addition, BU has won 39 MVC games over the last four years to give this year's senior class the most conference wins in school history. The previous school record for league wins in a four-year stretch was Gorski's senior class (1991-92) that went a combined 38-34 in Gateway Conference action.

The winner of Monday's First Round game between Bradley and Texas will face either #3 seed UCLA or #14 seed Wyoming in the second round on Wednesday, March 24.

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