Jaci McCormick and Katie Donovan each had 10 points to lead Illinois State, but it was not enough as Bradley came into Redbird Arena and defeated the Birds 70-54. It was the first season sweep for the Braves over Illinois State since the 1986-87 season.
This is the first time we have swept Illinois State in a long time, said Bradley head coach Paula Buscher. I am really happy about this win, because we went at them really hard in the first half with our defensive intensity. Hopefully, this win will be a confidence booster for our team.
Illinois State 5-15, 3-8 in the Valley, committed 22 turnovers in the game and shot only 19 percent (3-for-16) from beyond the arc. Sharon Blade contributed eight points and led the Birds on the boards with six rebound and three blocks while Zora Skrabalova also turned in eight points.
Bradley, 9-11, 5-6 in the Valley, won the battle of the boards with a 37-30 rebounding edge and scored 23 points off of Illinois State turnovers. The Braves were led by Jaime Lugge with 14 points, while Genny Mueller contributed 13 points and five rebounds. Rasheeda Love turned in 10 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
Bradley did a great job of pressuring our guards today, said Donovan. Our team needs to get a lot tougher and work on our execution, because it causes us to make too many turnovers. We just did not come out fired up today.
Coach Jenny Yopp shared in Donovans frustration.
This was a really frustrating loss for us, because of the second chance points and the turnovers, said Yopp. We had much better execution in the second half. We faced the same type of pressure today that we did against Creighton, but we just didnt handle it well this time.
The Braves went to Ashley Chelleen early and often inside and she responded with four baskets in the first eight minutes as Bradley took a 17-7 lead. With Illinois States turnovers and cold shooting contributing, Bradley stretched that lead to 31-16 on Jaime Lugges basket with 4:48 left in the half. ISU trimmed the lead to 34-25 at halftime.
Bradley led 41-28 three minutes into the second half when Zora Skrabalova scored on a nice assist from Desiree Gutierrez with 16:32 left. After VaNicia Waterman hit a jumper for Bradley, Sara Stevenson scored on back-to-back layups at the end of ISUs pressbreaker and the Birds were within 43-34 with 13:23 left.
But ISU couldnt get closer. Sara Bailey came off a screen to hit a three-pointer with 11:47 left and Chelleen hit a jumper 26 seconds later, Love added a free throw at 10:58 and Bradley was back up 15.
ISU plays at Southwest Missouri State Thursday.
