PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley women's golf team will mark the halfway point of the fall season by playing in the sixth annual Johnie Imes Invitational at the par-72 Club at Old Hawthorne in Columbia, Mo., Monday and Tuesday.  Play is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. both days, with Monday's action featuring two rounds.

The Braves return to the Johnie Imes for the fifth time in the six-year history of the event.  Sophomore Thea Hedemann (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Walter Murray) helped lead Bradley at last year's event, tying for 50th after shooting her lowest round of the 2011 Fall season with a second-round 75. 

Likely the largest field BU will face this season, the Braves will square off with 11 teams which finished the 2011-12 season ranked in the Golfweek.com top 100.  In addition to Missouri Valley Conference rivals Illinois State, Missouri State and Wichita State, Bradley will be joined in the tournament by SEC members Missouri and Mississippi State along with Big Ten schools Indiana and Iowa. 

The 19-team field also includes Arkansas-Little Rock, Colorado State, Eastern Michigan, Florida International, Kansas State, Louisville, Montana, SMU and UMKC.  Links to live scoring for the Johnie Imes Invitational will be available at BradleyBraves.com

While Hedemann is Bradley's top returning player from last year's Johnie Imes Invitational, freshman Danielle Lemek (Doniphan, Neb./)Doniphan-Trumbull) has been the squad's top finisher in each of her first two collegiate events and owns a team-best 76.0 stroke average. 

Freshman Lindsey Levin (Chicago, Ill./The Latin School) is expected to play in her first career tournament and will be joined in the lineup by freshmen Jenna Roadley (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Sturgeon Heights) and Allison Walsh (Mt. Prospect, Ill./Mt. Prospect).

The Braves have two tournaments remaining on the fall schedule following the Johnie Imes Invitational, playing in the Butler Invitational in Indianapolis, Ind., Oct. 8 & 9 in addition to the Pat Bradley Invitational Oct. 21-23 in Sarasota, Fla.