Peoria, Ill. - Kids flocked through the doors of Renaissance Coliseum on Tuesday morning to see Bradley Women's Basketball (2-4) take on the Kansas City Roos (3-4) in the Braves' annual Field Trip Day game.
TURNOVERS EARLY
The Roos win the tip. The Roos score. 15 seconds in, Tamia Ugass hit a jumper for the first score of the game. Bradley got within 6-4 on a
Daija Powell layup. Turnovers began to plague the Braves. After another Ugass jumper that made it 8-4 Kansas City, Bradley coughed it up three times before making a basket. E'Lease Stafford, one of the Braves' primary defensive concerns coming in, hit a trey to go up 12-4 with 4:09 left. Powell hit another shot with 1:24 until the break to bring her Braves to double figures.
Ruba Abo Hashesh hit one from distance to slim the spread down to four points. Yet with both teams turning it over once, that 17-13 score would sit still after a quarter.
WE ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE
It was mentioned that E'Lease Stafford was a name to watch for the Roos - so was Sanna' St. Andre. Those two individuals carried the Roos' second quarter efforts. That being said, it seemed as if the Braves had found a rhythm.
Ruba Abo Hashesh found the open court from behind the arc and made it all of a one-point game at 17-16. It would ultimately become a story of so close, but so far. Stafford and St. Andre combined to score each of Kansas City's next five field goals, the latest being a Stafford layup to pull ahead of the Braves at 29-21. After not making it to the free throw line once in the opening frame, the Braves rebounded with a 4-6 effort in the second quarter, including
Caroline Waite going 2-2 with 1:45 until the half. Like the snap of a finger, the deficit was back to double figures. A three-pointer from Stafford set the halftime score of 36-26 Roos.
KEEPING IT CLOSE
Bradley's offense didn't falter out of the locker room. In fact, the third quarter would be Bradley's best offensive quarter of the game.
Alex Rouse had a six-point quarter to join Abo Hashesh in double figures for the game. The Braves got back within 10 points in a Rouse layup at 38-30, and they kept chipping away, with
Isis Fitch making it 46-37 at the 3:28 mark. The lead, however, went right back to 10+ points. With what looked like one quarter left, the Braves were down 53-41.
BRAVES STORM BACK
Just when one had thought Bradley had its best offensive quarter, perhaps they saved the best for last. By quarter's end, they would have put 18 points on the board. The difference this time, the Braves got within double figures and kept getting closer, as opposed to the point spread swaying back and forth. A layup from
Caroline Waite put the Braves at their closest deficit in some time, 57-55, with 3:43 left.
Alex Rouse gave the game a tied score at 59-59 with 28 seconds left. However, a jump ball gave the Roos the arrow with 0.1 on the clock, and overtime it would be.
FREE BASKETBALL
With both teams struggling to find the basket in the last few possessions of regulation, it maybe was to no surprise that it took all of 13 seconds for the first points of overtime, with the Roos hitting a pull up. Sanaa' St. Andre would hit her second consecutive bucket of the OT period to expand the lead to 63-59.
Isis Fitch fought back to tie it at 65 with 2:40 left.
Caroline Waite added on with a layup for a 67-65 deficit. A free throw from Ruba Abo Hashseh put the Braves back on top at 68-67 with 46 seconds left. Unfortunately for the hosts, that would be their last of the game. St. Andre knocked down what would ultimately be the game-winning free throws with 38 seconds left, putting the Roos ahead 69-68. After Bradley turned an inbounds pass over, it forced them to foul, and the Roos knocked down the game-icing free throws to set the 71-68 final score.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Ruba Abo Hashesh scored 18 points on a 3-6 mark from three and a career-high nine assists.
Daija Powell scored a season-high 13 points and just missed a double-double, bringing in nine rebounds.
Alex Rouse scored 13 points and blew her career-high in assists out of the water with eight, not to mention another career-high in steals with three.
Caroline Waite wrapped up the Braves' four double figures scorers with 13 points on 5-12 shooting.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BRAVES
@ Loyola-Chicago Ramblers
Saturday, December 3rd - 5:30 PM
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