Bradley women drop back-and-forth with Milwaukee

The crew at Renaissance Coliseum begins to tear down after Wednesday's game against Kansas City. PHOTO / ALEX STAAB

Peoria, Ill. - The Bradley Braves (1-1, 0-0) got a big lift early, when it was determined that junior Lasha Petree would be playing in the game, and in the starting lineup as well. That coupled with Morton product Brandi Bisping on the opposing sideline gave this one quite a few notable headlines already. 

Alas, after eight ties, 13 lead changes, and 52 fouls called, the visiting Milwaukee Panthers (2-0, 0-0) prevailed by a 65-60 score. 

The game got off to a very slow start for either side, with both teams narrowly eclipsing double figures. 

Bradley knew going in how physical of a team Milwaukee can be, and that was evident, essentially, right from tipoff. 

The Panthers would get to the boards early and often, edging Bradley 14-11 in that department. Ironically, that was also the score after 10 minutes. 

Both offenses were even a touch slower in the second quarter, with the Braves and Panthers combining for three field goals. Perhaps the most notable efforts being the free throws. The Panthers saw Miquela Santoro and Bisping split four, while Lasha Petree, Gabi Haack, and Tatum Koenig all saw attempts at the charity stripe. 

With a halftime talk in the books, and a score similar to Wednesday's first quarter score, the pace ramped up quite well. 

Lasha Petree had perhaps the best individual quarter for a Bradley Brave, scoring 11 of her game-high 23 points, including a 5-5 clip on free throws. Nyjah White added 6 points as well. 

By this point, Bradley would normally have made a decent number of three-point shots. That was seemingly just not there on Saturday night, with the Braves making four as opposed to their nine against Kansas City. 

Bisping had a quality third period for Milwaukee, hitting two treys, while forcing her way to the line on multiple occasions. Within that, it was drawing multiple Bradley fouls, among the efforts of other Panther players, and Bradley was in foul trouble for a significant amount of time. 

Milwaukee would go a perfect 5-5 from behind the arc, but the aforementioned 11 points from Lasha Petree kept the Braves in front, 42-40. 

Then, the fouls came into the picture even more so than they already were. Four players would exit with five fouls. Three for the Braves, and one for the Panthers. 

That being said, Milwaukee was shooting quite well from the free throw line, so this would ultimately prove deadly for the Braves, who got edged by the Panthers in that category, 23-18. 

Bradley wasn't going down without a fight, though. A Lasha Petree trey brought Bradley within a 61-58 score. A layup from Isis Fitch brought it back to one score at 63-60. Yet it was Brandi Bisping who set the final score with a pair of free throws. 65-60 Milwaukee.

After the game, head coach Andrea Gorski said the Panthers beat the Braves in nearly every facet.

"Just got out-hustled, out-physicaled. They were able to get us to play a little bit undisciplined," Gorski said in a virtual postgame press conference that's published on social media.   

The fifth-year head coach added that the Braves "took a lot of bad shots" and "couldn't really get in a rhythym on offense". 

As to what ended up determining the result? Gorski kept it simple.

"It's not rocket science. We were all out of sorts with all the foul trouble, but we've got to be able to execute when we get in those types of situations, and we didn't today," she added.

With the final score, Bradley suffered its first non-conference home loss since December 19th, 2017 (67-65 vs. Cleveland State). 

The Braves will hit the road and take on Horizon League member Wright State on Wednesday, December 2nd. 

Alex Staab is a freelance blogger. He also works with BravesVision, Bradley University's student broadcasting group. This article nor the writing of the story as a whole has no association with BravesVision or its opinions. Alex was the Bradley Women's Basketball Public Address Announcer from 2016 until 2019. You can follow him on Twitter (@StaabAlex). 

Bradley Statistical Leaders:

Points: Lasha Petree (23)

Field Goals: Lasha Petree (6-15)

3-Pointers: Gabi Haack (2-5)

Free Throws: Lasha Petree (10-11)

Rebounds: Gabi Haack (8)

Assists: Gabi Haack (3)

Steals: Lasha Petree, Tatum Koenig, Nyjah White (2 each)

Blocks: Lasha Petree (3)

Minutes: Lasha Petree (38)

Team Stats: 19-58 FGs (32.8%), 4-18 3's (22.2%), 18-23 FTs (78.3%), 39 rebounds, 8 assists, 8 steals, 6 blocks, 28 fouls, 15 turnovers