PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Women's Basketball will open the second half of the Missouri Valley Conference schedule and plays the third contest of a season-long, four-game home stand Friday when the Braves host Evansville in a 7 p.m. game at Renaissance Coliseum. Friday will be $1 hot dog night.
The teams enter Friday's tilt tied in the MVC standing and Bradley will be looking to avenge a 62-46 loss to the Purple Aces back on Jan. 10 in Evansville, Ind. The Braves have won six of the last seven home games in the series with Evansville and own a 15-6 edge in the series at home. The squads have split the regular-season series each of the last two years and three of the last four seasons. Overall, Bradley is 10-4 in the last 14 matchups and holds a 26-19 advantage all-time.
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Friday's game will be available on ESPN3 as part of The Valley On ESPN3 and can be viewed through WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. In addition, BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live stats along with the WIRL 1290 AM/102.7 FM (www.1290wirl.com) radio broadcast with Ed Hammond providing play-by-play.
Three of Bradley's last four home opponents have scored 55 points or less and the Braves have held their last six foes to an average of 57.2 points per game. The Braves lead the MVC in three-point field goal percentage defense, limiting teams to 28.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc. MVC teams have shot just 20.8 percent (16-for-77) from long range at Renaissance Coliseum in 2015-16.
Freshman Vanessa Markert (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) made her first career start Sunday against Northern Iowa and collected eight points and two blocks. Markert has scored in double figures in two of the last four games and had eight or more points in three of those four outings. She has averaged 7.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and 1.0 steal per game during that span.
Evansville will be Bradley's seventh opponent in the last eight games to be coming off a loss. In fact, eight of the last 10 teams the Braves have faced lost their previous games before taking on Bradley. Including Evansville, seven of 11 teams to visit Renaissance Coliseum lost their game prior to coming to Peoria.
Four of Bradley's first five home MVC games have been against teams which are 6-3 or better in league play, with defending Valley champion Wichita State the lone exception. The five conference opponents the Braves have played at home have combined for 29 of the 45 wins (64 percent) in league play this season.
Bradley has had a better record in the second half of MVC play in five consecutive seasons, but the Braves will be trying to open the second half of league play with a victory for the first time since 2011-12. Bradley has started the second half of Valley play with a win in five of the last eight years, however.
Bradley will close out the four-game home stand Sunday with a 2 p.m. matchup with Southern Illinois at Renaissance Coliseum.
