Peoria, Ill. - Bradley Women's Basketball (2-3) was riding the confidence of having won their first game of the year, taking on NAIA member Missouri Baptist (4-3) on Tuesday at Renaissance Coliseum.
HANGING IN THERE
Caroline Waite hit a jumper about two minutes in to put Bradley in front 6-2. The Spartans kept it close, with a free throw at the 1:33 mark making it 14-11 Bradley. The Braves closed the quarter on a miniature 4-0 run on jumpers from
Alex Rouse and
Isis Fitch. That gave Bradley an 18-11 lead after a quarter.
SCORE TO WIN
The first part of the second quarter was uneventful, to say the least. The Spartans hit a jumper for either team's first second quarter points at 5:53 until halftime. The Spartans' Tionne Taylor hit a trey to pull within 22-21 of Bradley. Again, it was another scoring drought for both sides, as
Reagan Barkema's three with 49 seconds until the break gave Bradley their 25-21 halftime lead.
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
Out of the locker room, the Spartans continued to play right with the Braves. The quarter stayed within a possession for the most part, including Lauren Ebert hitting a jumper with 4:19 left to get within one. Then it was Ebert again, this time from three, and the Spartans had a 36-34 lead on Bradley in the waning minutes of the third. The Braves never had the lead the rest of the quarter. A pair of free throws from
Alex Rouse made it 36-36 and a converted three-point play by Rouse made it 39-39. Yet with just one quarter remaining, Bradley could officially be put on upset alert, tied with the Spartans after three.
BLEW IT WIDE OPEN
The fourth quarter started the way that most of the game had.
Daija Powell hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 44 with 7:15 left. Then came a game-changing run. Counting Powell's free throws, the Braves would go on a 13-0 run to turn a back and forth game to an 11-point Braves lead. Now, it was still within reach, but those in attendance could tell it gave Bradley that much-needed boost of confidence. The Spartans dropped in a layup with 2:43 left, but that would be the last time the Spartans would be within 10 points. A critical, perhaps game-icing moment was when Tionne Taylor, the Spartans' eventual leading scorer with 16 points, fouled out with 3:08 remaining. After that foul-out, Bradley out-scored Missouri Baptist 11-2 the remainder of the game, all in route to a 66-46 win.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Alex Rouse had a career-high 17 points, career-high seven rebounds, career-high two steals, career-high six field goals made, and a career-high five free throws made.
Caroline Waite, who scored 15 points on the night, tied her career high in assists with five.
Daija Powell nearly had another double-double, finishing with eight points and eight rebounds.
The Braves shot 16-19 from the free throw line (84.2%), paced by
Caroline Waite and
Daija Powell both going a perfect 4-4.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BRAVES
Annual Field Trip Day Game
vs. Kansas City Roos
Tuesday, November 29th - 11AM
Tickets