Peoria, Ill. - The bouncing of basketballs inside Renaissance Coliseum presents itself as the sign of a new season. After months of an offseason, the Bradley Braves finally got to tip off the 2022-23 season and Kate Popovec-Goss Era, albeit unofficially so. The Braves welcomed in the McKendree Bearcats, an NCAA Division-II program out of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, for an exhibition tilt.

EARLY TURNOVERS
In the game's opening minutes, turnovers seemed to be plaguing the Braves. McKendree would go up as much as 8-2 on a jump shot from Naomi McDaniel, but back came the Braves. The early lead by the Bearcats was just enough to keep chipping away at, and with 2:23 left in the first quarter, Isis Fitch found the bucket on a layup to pull the Braves within 15-14. The lead would get back up to seven points just before the quarter break.

BATTLING BACK
The second quarter saw some swaying back and forth. Bradley pulled within two points on multiple early occasions, but the lead would return to an eight-point spread. Just like the opening frame, the Braves fought back. A rebound and putback from Daija Powell put it at a 29-27 McKendree advantage, then Reagan Barkema swished in a trey with roughly three minutes to go, sliding Bradley to within a single point at 31-30. Veronika Roberts stayed with her own miss and followed up with an offensive rebound and putback for a 33-32 Bearcat lead. After Barkema crashed the boards, it was fed ahead to Lucia Llaveria for a three with seconds remaining to send the game into the halftime locker room with a 35-35 tie.

BUT WAITE, THERE'S MORE
With 20 minutes in the books, Caroline Waite was 0-6 from three. That was about to change, and change quickly. It barely took one minute of play, and Waite capitalized on a McKendree turnover with a three at the other end to give Bradley a lead at 38-35. The sophomore guard would be responsible for six of Bradley's next 11 points on a pair of three-pointers, the latter of which gave Bradley its largest lead thus far at 49-41 around the mid-way mark of the quarter. 

It was more capitalizing on opposing turnovers, when Fitch found the bottom of the net on a three, capping a personal 5-0 run and giving the Braves a double figure lead at 58-46. Bradley finished the quarter strong by virtue of a Powell layup to go up 12 into the final quarter of play.

CLOSING TIME
When it came time for the fourth quarter, Bradley found offensive consistency, and they were able to maintain a lead ranging from 13-15 points. Waite hit the last of her five three-pointers with 6:34 to go, giving Bradley a 66-51 lead, ultimately its largest of the game. Ruba Abo Hashesh put the finishing touches on an exhibition win by splitting a pair of free throws with just under two minutes remaining. 

After the Bearcats turned it over on a traveling violation with 13 seconds left, the Braves were able to dribble out the clock and come away with a 71-60 exhibition win. 

SHE SAID IT - QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH KATE POPOVEC-GOSS
On slow start and subsequent turnovers
"I think there was a lot of jitters. A lot of when you put that uniform on, the energy is really different. Other than that, I thought when we settled in and got into our press attack, I thought we looked a lot better."

On first 'true' gameday run of show as Head Coach
"I think everyone saw I was cool, calm, and collected on the sidelines," Popovec-Goss said with a smile. "It was great. We play exhibitions for a reason. As much as its for our girls, its for our staff as well. We're brand new in so many ways. For us to get out here and see how it feels to play on our home court, its really important."

On Caroline Waite's shooting turnaround
"She's a lot of fun. She's a lot of fun to coach. I think the biggest thing our girls did to get her shots was playing with freedom. When they generated offensive opportunities from our defense, we were able to get out and run in transition a little bit." 

On what she would like the team to accomplish in practice over the next week
"Continue to focus on us. We're really, really young. Heading into Mizzou, we really need to focus on what we need to do to continue to grow, and that's the focus the entire season."

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BRAVES
2022-2023 Regular Season Opener
@ Missouri Tigers (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
Thursday, November 10th - 7PM Tip
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