Braves Look For 3-0 MVC Start At Valpo

Duane Zehr

Women's Basketball 1/6/2018 11:09:00 AM

PEORIA, Ill. – Bradley Women's Basketball will put its unblemished Missouri Valley Conference record on the line Sunday with the Braves taking on league newcomer Valparaiso in a 3 p.m. road game.

After a 59-57 victory at Loyola Friday night, Bradley (8-5 overall, 2-0 MVC) is one of three unbeaten Valley teams in conference play right behind 3-0 squads Southern Illinois and Drake who will play each other Sunday.

Valparaiso (8-6 overall, 1-2 MVC) is undefeated at home so far this season (6-0) after topping Illinois State 56-50 Friday night in the first MVC home game for the Crusaders. After a 3-4 start to the season, Valparaiso has posted a 5-2 mark in the last seven contests.

Sunday's game will be available on ESPN3 as part of the MVC media rights agreement with ESPN. The Valley On ESPN3 can be viewed through WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. In addition, Ed Hammond will handle the radio broadcast on WIRL 1290 AM with links to the audio stream available at BradleyBraves.com

•   Bradley enters Sunday's matchup with Valparaiso riding a three-game win streak, which is tied for the longest active streak in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Braves own a three-game win streak for the first time since midway through the 2016-17 MVC slate. Bradley is trying for its first four-game win streak since winning the final five non-conference contests of the 2011-12 campaign.
•   Friday's victory at Loyola gave Bradley its best start to MVC play since opening the 2008-09 league slate with a 4-0 record and that same 2008-09 season also marks the last time the Braves opened Valley play with back-to-back road wins, but BU is on the verge of a program first heading into Sunday's outing at Valparaiso. Bradley has won the first two games of a three-game MVC road swing a total of four times previously with the last falling in 2014-15. A victory Sunday at Valparaiso would give the Braves a sweep of a three-game MVC road swing for the first time in program history. The previous four times Bradley opened a three-game MVC road swing with back-to-back victories (2014-15, 2009-10, 1995-96 and 1989-90) the Braves went on to lose the third game.
•   For just the sixth time in program history Bradley has opened conference play with back-to-back victories with the last occurrence in 2008-09. Despite just her second season as head coach at her alma mater, Bradley head coach Andrea Gorski has been involved in four of the six starts of 2-0 or better for the Braves in conference play with three of those coming when she was a student-athlete (1988-89 – 3-0; 1989-90 – 2-0 & 1990-91 – 3-0). A victory Sunday at Valparaiso would give Bradley its fourth 3-0 start to league play and just the second since Gorski's playing days.

Year	MVC Start	MVC Record (Finish)
2017-18	2-0
2008-09	4-0	11-7 (4th)
1996-97	2-0	9-9 (T4th)
1990-91	3-0	9-9 (T5th)
1989-90	2-0	12-6 (4th)
1988-89	3-0	6-12 (6th)

•   Bradley is now 3-1 in its last four road games and ranks second in the Missouri Valley Conference with three true road victories. In fact, the Braves need just one road victory to match the team's highest road win total (4) since posting a 6-9 road mark in 2012-13. Bradley has already matched its MVC road win total from last year and needs one more road victory for the first season with three MVC road wins since that same 2012-13 campaign (3).
•   The Braves committed a season-low eight turnovers Friday at Loyola, marking the team's fewest turnovers since an eight-turnover outing at Drake on Feb. 12, 2017. In fact, eight turnovers matches the lowest turnover for Bradley since seven turnovers in a home loss to Northern Iowa on Feb. 17, 2006. The Braves are averaging 15.7 turnovers per game, which would be the lowest average in program history, and have had an average of just 11.7 turnovers per game over the last three outings. Bradley is 4-1 when committing 15 turnovers or less this season.
•   Bradley has hit four or more three-pointers in 11 consecutive games after knocking down four triples Friday at Loyola. The last time the Braves had a streak of 11 consecutive games with at least four three-pointers was a 15-game stretch midway through the 2012-13 season. This season's average of 5.38 three-pointers per contest would be Bradley's best since 2012-13 (5.36 per game).
•   The Braves are wrapping up a stretch of games in which they have played nine of 12 games away from home with Sunday's outing at Valparaiso. Bradley plays six of the next eight games at Renaissance Coliseum, where it owns a 4-1 record and is 9-2 in the last 11 games dating back to last season.
•   While Bradley won its last game at Valparaiso, topping the Crusaders last December in a non-conference road game, the home state of senior Danielle Brewer (Coatesville, Ind.) has not been kind to the Braves during her career. Last year's win at Valparaiso is BU's only victory in the Hoosier state during Brewer's career and the Braves are 1-8 in their last nine trips to Indiana. Brewer is coming off a season-best 17 points in Friday's win at Loyola.

Bradley returns to Renaissance Coliseum following Sunday's contest at Valparaiso, opening a two-game MVC home stand Friday, Jan. 12 with a 7 p.m. game against Southern Illinois.

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