Bradley will face Northern Iowa Friday at 2:35 p.m. in the quarterfinals at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.  The Panthers finished the regular season 14-15 overall and two games behind the Braves in fifth place at 10-8.

Head coach Paula Buscher hopes Bradley can continue its late season run.  After opening the season with a 4-8 record, the Braves have won 12 of their last 16 games heading into the Valley tournament and won a pair of closely contested matchups last week to climb into a tie for third with Missouri State.

The Braves led for most of the contest against Wichita State, but needed a late 7-3 push to down the Shockers 58-55 last week at Lorene Ramsey Gym as the Shockers took a one-point lead with under two minutes to play. 

Bradley trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half against Missouri State, before rallying for a 65-64 win.  The 14-point deficit is the largest overcome by the Braves in a win since erasing a 15-point Illinois-Chicago lead in the 2005-06 season opener.  Bradley also won back-to-back games by three points or fewer for the first time since the 1990-91 season.

The winner of Friday's quarterfinal matchup will advance to Saturday's 5:05 p.m. semifinal contest and play the winner of the first quarterfinal game between #1 seed Illinois State and the winner of Thursday's Indiana State-Southern Illinois tilt.

A free audio stream will be available at www.bradleybraves.com and the game will be joined in progress on 1290 AM WIRL following the conclusion of the Illinois men's basketball game. 

Fans attending the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament are encouraged to attend a sendoff for the women's basketball team Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Sheraton Westport Lakeside Chalet at 191 West Port Plaza in St. Louis.