University of Northern Iowa
Bradley
Panther Rally Falls Short in 79-63 Loss at Bradley
3/8/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 8, 2008
PEORIA, Ill. -
After trailing by as many as 22 points in the second half, the
Nicole Clausen led the Panthers with 16 points and seven rebounds. Jacqui Kalin and Erin Brocka each scored 15 points for UNI (12-17, 8-10).
Bradley (12-17, 6-12) scored the first seven points of the game, and after Erin Brocka put the Panthers on the board at 16:40 the Braves rattled off 14 straight points to take a 21-2 lead with 9:30 left in the half.
Jacqui Kalin ended a nine-minute scoring drought for UNI with a jump shot as the shot clock expired, and Lizzie Boeck scored on the next Panther possession to bring the score to 21-6 with 7:05 left in the half.
Bradley scored the next four points to stretch its lead to 25-6, and the Braves held at least a 17-point lead until Kristin Iehl hit a three at 1:30 to cut the Bradley lead to 32-16.
A pair of free throws from Devyn Flanagan put the Braves back up by 18, but Kalin knocked down a three to make it a 15-point game, 14-19 with 1:03 on the clock.
Kelly Krumwiede knocked down a long jumper to put the Braves' lead back at 17, and then Flannagan hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to send Bradley into the break leading 39-19.
The Braves scored first out of the break to take a 22-point lead. Bradley led by at least 20 points until Erin Brocka hit a three at 16:40 that brought the score to 45-28.
A three-point play from Rachel Merriman pushed the Bradley lead back to 20, 48-28, but a bucket from Alexa Mennen and a three-point play from Kalin pulled the Panthers within 15, 48-33 with 15:04 on the clock.
Nicole Clausen hit a three at 14:22 to pull the Panthers within 14, 50-36. After Flanagan and Kalin traded threes, Mennen scored on the block to trim the Bradley lead to a dozen, 53-41 with 13 minutes remaining.
Bradley scored the next four points to stretch its advantage to 57-41. A pair of free throws from Clausen and a layup by Flanagan kept the difference at 16 points, but a three from Clausen on a fast break pulled the Panthers within 13 points, 59-46 with nine minutes to play.
Traci Ollendieck collected a defensive rebound and beat the Braves down the floor, dumping the ball off to Kalin who connected with Clausen on the corner for a basket that trimmed the Bradley lead to 11, 59-48 with 8:01 on the clock.
After a free throw from Raisa Taylor put the Braves up 12, Ollendieck made a layup to pull the Panthers within 10, 60-50 with 7:34 remaining.
The Panthers continued to chip away at the Bradley lead, and with 5:30 remaining, Brocka knocked down a three to pull the Panthers within five, 62-57.
The Braves scored on their next four trips, however, building a 71-59 advantage with 3:13 to play.
Clausen scored with 1:55 to play to pull the Panthers within 10, but they could not get any closer on the way to the loss.
The Panthers shot 24-of-56 (42.9 percent) from the floor, including 8-of-25 (32 percent) from three-point range. UNI was 7-of-9 (78 percent) from the free-throw line.
The loss drops the Panthers to the seventh seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. UNI will face 10th-seeded
