SAN MARCOS, Texas – Junior Lasha Petree scored a game and season-high 33 points and added five blocks, but Texas All-American Charli Collier paced the Longhorns with 23 points and 15 boards as Bradley Women's Basketball had its historic run end with an 81-62 loss in the NCAA Tournament First Round Monday night.
In a physical contest, Texas (19-9 overall) controlled the boards early; pulling down 13 offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
Bradley (17-12 overall) had its only lead of the game on a Tatum Koenig layup nearing the four-minute mark of the first quarter before Bradley went cold. The Longhorns closed the opening period with a 13-0 run to build a 19-7 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
Petree had a personal 7-0 run in the late stages of the second quarter to help Bradley outscore the Longhorns 14-7 over the final five minutes of the period to trim the Longhorns' advantage to 44-30 at the break.
Gallery: (3-22-2021) WBB vs. Texas (03-22-21)
After a 12-point second quarter, Petree scored 14 of Bradley's 21 third-quarter points; single-handedly going on a 9-1 run to trim what was a 19-point deficit to 11 (59-48) late in the third. Texas was able to answer every Bradley hoop the remainder of the period, however, and led 65-51 heading to the fourth.
Bradley had the first points of the fourth on a Koenig layup and the deficit was 13 points with just under eight minutes left following a Gabi Haack fastbreak hoop, but Texas answered with a 10-2 run to put the game out of reach as the Longhorns move on to a second round matchup with #3 seed UCLA Wednesday in San Antonio.
Petree's season-best 33 points pushed her final season scoring total to 523, which ranks fourth among Bradley season marks and is the most points scored by a Brave since Shelli Braud (1987-88). She also closed the year with a Missouri Valley Conference-best 63 blocks, which is the second-best season total in Bradley history.
Haack joined Petree in double figures with 16 points in addition to collecting team highs of eight rebounds and four assists. Haack's 479 points on the year rank as the 10th-best season scoring total by a Bradley player and she closed the year 39 points from matching Karen Anderson's school career scoring record of 1,679 career points.
Four Texas players scored in double figures, paced by Collier's 23 points. Audrey Warren (19), Joanne Allen-Taylor (12) and Ashley Chevalier (10 points) each joined Collier in double figures.
Bradley closed the season with a 17-12 overall record and the Braves have collected 72 wins over the last four seasons to match the school record for overall wins a four-year stretch.