Women’s Basketball Returns Home For Play4Kay Weekend

Women's Basketball 2/14/2018 1:08:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. – Bradley Women's Basketball returns to Renaissance Coliseum for a two-game home stand, hosting Evansville (Friday) and Indiana State (Sunday) during the team's Play4Kay Weekend. The Braves look to complete a season sweep of the Aces in Friday's 7 p.m. matchup with Evansville, in addition to trying to earn a split in the Indiana State series with Sunday's 2 p.m. outing.

The home stand is Bradley's Play4Kay Weekend, highlighted by a "Paint the B" event prior to Friday's game against Evansville and the Coach G 3-Point Challenge which will include both games. For more information about either promotion visit bit.ly/2GdhO4n

Both games 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 (11-13 overall, 5-8 MVC) enters the weekend tied with I-74 rival Illinois State for sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference standings at 5-8. The Braves are looking for their first regular-season sweep of the series with Evansville (3-20 overall, 0-12 MVC) since 2012-13 after a 117-59 victory at UE back on Jan. 21. Bradley owns a 29-20 lead in the all-time series with the Aces, which includes a 17-6 home mark. The Braves are 8-1 in the last nine home contests against Evansville.

Indiana State (8-15 overall, 6-6 MVC) heads into a Friday night game at Illinois State one-and-a-half games ahead of both Bradley and the Redbirds in the Valley standings in fifth. The Sycamores have won three consecutive road games heading into Friday's game at Redbird Arena. The Braves split last year's series with Indiana State, avenging a 58-51 overtime loss in Terre Haute in January with a 54-41 victory on Super Bowl Sunday.

A 62-56 victory over Missouri State in last year's Play4Kay game improved Bradley's record to 9-5 in its annual "Pink" game, which dates back to a 97-83 BU victory over Indiana State on March 6, 2004. The Brave have averaged nearly six three-pointers per game (5.7) in their annual "Pink" events, shooting 36.4 percent (80-for-220) from beyond the arc in those contests. Bradley knocked down a school single-game record 17 three's in this season's first meeting with Evansville.

Despite dropping its last home game, Bradley has had a bit of success in February home games as of late. In fact, the Braves are 5-2 in their last seven February home games and 10-6 in home games played after Feb. 1 over the last four seasons. Bradley has posted a .500 record or better in February home contests in each of the last six seasons with a 15-11 record in those games over that span. In fact, the Braves are 30-19 (.612) in February home games dating back to the 2005-06 season and have had a .500 record or better at home in February in all but one season since 1999-2000.

Junior Vanessa Markert collected her first double-double of the year with 21 points and a season-best 11 rebounds Sunday at Southern Illinois. Since the start of February, Markert has scored in double figures in three of four games (12.5 ppg) while shooting 50 percent from the field and pulling down 7.0 rebounds per game. Ten of Markert's 30 career double-digit scoring efforts have come in the month of February, including nine of her last 12 February games. Over the last two seasons, she has averaged 13.4 points per game on 48 percent shooting to go with 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 blocks per game in February contests.

Bradley will follow up the weekend home stand with the final Missouri Valley Conference road swing of the year. The Braves play at defending MVC champion and league-leading Drake Friday, Feb. 23 (7 p.m.) to open the road trip.

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