Indiana State INS 9-16, 7-7 MVC

Bradley BRAD 12-14, 6-9 MVC

Indiana State INS

9-16, 7-7 MVC

Final

Feb. 18, 2018

Bradley BRAD

12-14, 6-9 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Indiana State INS	12	23	21	18	74
Bradley BRAD	23	16	21	10	70

Box Score

Indiana State Edges Bradley 74-70

Box Score

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 2/18/2018 5:12:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. – Freshman Gabi Haack celebrated her birthday with a team-high 19 points to go with eight rebounds and junior Vanessa Markert was a rebound short of a double-double (16 points and nine boards), but Indiana State used a fourth quarter push to edge Bradley 74-70 Sunday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum in a battle for fifth place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings.

Indiana State (9-16 overall, 7-7 MVC) entered the game a half-game ahead of Bradley (12-14 overall, 6-9 MVC) in the league standings and the Sycamores held on to fifth-place with the victory.

"You have to control the controllables and that was the difference today," said Bradley head coach Andrea Gorski. "We gave up too many offensive rebounds and that coupled with shooting 62 percent from the free throw line is what hurt us. We have to be a mentally tough team and just gave Indiana State too many extra chances down the stretch."

The Braves jumped out to a 17-5 lead, thanks in part to three Haack three-pointers in the opening four minutes. The lead ballooned to 14 (21-7) on a Markert jumper with 1:37 to play in the first and Bradley held a 23-12 lead at the end of the opening period.

After shooting 52.9 percent (9-for-17) from the field in the first quarter, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, the Braves shot 54.5 percent (6-of-11) in the second quarter. Bradley took its largest lead of the game at 31-16 on a Markert jumper with 6:33 left in the second, but Indiana State would chip away at the BU advantage.

Indiana State's Alexis Delgado hit back-to-back three-pointers and Ashli O'Neal added a three-point play during a 9-0 Sycamore spurt in the closing minutes of the second as Bradley's lead was trimmed to 39-35 at the half.

The teams traded baskets early in the third quarter, before Haack's fourth three-pointer of the day pushed Bradley's advantage back to four (49-45) nearing the midway point of the period. Freshman Jailynn Lawson found senior Anneke Schlueter for a fastbreak hoop after a defensive stop to give the Braves a six-point edge again at 51-45 and Bradley would hold a 60-56 lead heading to the fourth.

Four Bradley turnovers in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter helped fuel a 7-0 Indiana State run to open the final frame as the Sycamores held the lead for the first time since the opening minute of the game.

The Braves trailed 63-62 with 5:40 left after a Haack putback basket which snapped a near five-minute stretch without a field goal, but O'Neal drained a three-pointer on the next Indiana State possession and a BU turnover led to a Wendi Bibbins layup to mark the largest lead of the day for the Sycamores at 68-62 with just under five minutes on the clock.

With her team trailing by five, Haack hit another jumper with 2:53 to play to make it a one-possession game and Nyjah White got free inside for a layup to make it a one-point Indiana State lead (69-68) with 1:25 left.

The teams traded hoops with Bibbins getting a layup for Indiana State and Markert hitting a jumper from the elbow with 47.8 seconds left. Bradley appeared to get the stop it needed when a Delgado three-point attempt banked hard off the glass, but the Sycamores came down with the offensive rebound and O'Neal made pair of free throws with 12.4 seconds left to push the Indiana State lead back to three at 73-70.

Haack's potential game-tying three-point attempt in the closing seconds was off the mark and a Ty Battle free throw with 0.8 seconds remaining sealed the 74-70 victory for Indiana State.

Haack's 19-point effort pushed her team-best season scoring total to 261, which ranks as the 10th best scoring output by a Bradley freshman and is the best by a BU rookie since Katie Yohn had 317 points in 2009-10. Markert scored in double figures for the third consecutive game and fifth time in the last six contests.

O'Neal led three Indiana State players in double figures with a game-high 21 points, while Bibbins added a double-double (14 points & 11 rebounds). Delgado scored all 15 of her points on the day from beyond the arc, connecting on 5-of-7 three-point attempts.

The Braves open the final road swing of the 2017-18 regular season Friday at league-leading Drake, taking on the Bulldogs in a 7 p.m. game in Des Moines, Iowa.

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