Sara Bailey scored 14 points and VaNicia Waterman added 13 as Bradley exploded for a 38-16 second-half advantage in a 71-36 win over Illinois State.
The Braves, 11-2, 2-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference, set a school record with 3,128 fans in attendance and treated the crowd to a defensive show which limited Illinois State, 2-10 overall, 0-3 in the Valley, to just three field goals in the second half.
The first half was much tighter. Illinois State took an early 10-6 lead thanks to six points and five rebounds in the first five minutes by
Kristi Larson, who finished the game with 9 points and 7 rebounds for ISU. The Braves rallied with a 12-0 run finished by Genny Muellers three-pointer with 7:42 left in the half to put the Braves ahead 18-10. Larson picked up her second foul and went to the bench for the rest of the half.
Steph Reichle, who had nine points to match Larson for game-high for ISU, stopped the bleeding by scoring after her own steal on a pass from
Beth Huston, then hitting a jump shot from an out-of-bounds play to cut the lead to 18-10. After Waterman hit a jumper from an offensive rebound, Huston hit a free throw with 3:38 left to cut th elead to 20-15, Bradley went on a 13-6 spurt to take a 33-21 halftime lead.
Bradley put the game out of reach early in the second half with a 13-0 run in the first four minutes as the Redbirds went 0-3 with six trunovers and the Braves led 46-21. The Redbirds managed only seven points in the first 12 minutes of the second half
Redbird coach
Jenny Yopp saluted Bradleys intensity.
They came as us tough as we expected they would, said Yopp, whose team had 24 turnovers after cutting their turnover problems down the previous two games. We couldnt control the ball and you arent gong to win with 36 points.
The Redbirds play Drake at 7:05 p.m. Thursday in Redbird Arena.
