The Upper Iowa University women's basketball team played an exhibition game in Peoria, Ill. against NCAA Division I opponent Bradley University. The Braves claimed an 83-53 win to improve to 2-0 on the season in a game that counted toward their record, and the Peacocks maintained their 1-1 record after gaining experience against the Mid-Major opponent while keeping the score close into the third quarter.

Bradley's Gabi Haack opened the game by knocking down a pair of free throws, and Upper Iowa's Lydia Haack assisted Jessica Musgrave on the ensuing UIU possession to tie the score at 2-2. The Braves went on a 7-0 run to take an early lead, but Musgrave knocked down a mid-range jumper to end the run and cut the UIU deficit to 9-4. The Braves went on a 10-2 run capped off by a tough three from the corner by Gabi Haack, but Lydia Haack matched he older sister with a three-pointer on the next possession before the first quarter ended.

UIU scored the first point of the second quarter, but Bradley made an and-one layup and hit a three after rebounding the miss to score five points in six seconds. Musgrave and Lexie Lodermeier made back-to-back buckets to make it a 24-14 game, but Bradley answered with a 5-0 spurt to go up 15. Both teams shot under 30% for the rest of the half, and the Braves brought a 37-23 lead into the halftime break.

After scoring the first 6 Peacock points, Jessica Musgrave tallied 10 in the first half to go along with 4 rebounds. Lexie Lodermeier grabbed a game-high 7 rebounds in the first half as UIU finished the half with a 22-19 rebounding advantage.

Upper Iowa opened the second half with a three-pointer from the corner from Mia Huberty, and Musgrave forced a quick BU timeout after making a jumper to give UIU a quick 5-0 run. After a miss from Bradley, the Peacocks pulled down a pair of offensive rebounds on the ensuing possession, and Musgrave cut the UIU deficit to 37-30 by knocking down two free-throws after the second board. Bradley went on an 8-0 run to go back up by 15 that included back-to-back threes from BU's Caroline Waite, but Brooke Evenson answered with a three of her own to end the UIU scoring drought and cut the deficit to 45-33.

Bradley took their biggest lead of the night at 50-33, but Lydia Haack converted an and-one with 2:26 left in the third quarter to make it a 50-36 game. Bradley rattled off another 8-0 run to push their lead to 22, but an Evenson three-pointer ended an eight-point run once again as she banked in a basket from deep. The Peacocks bookended the third quarter with a 7-0 opening and a 3-0 close, but a 21-6 stretch from the Braves in the middle saw BU bring a 58-39 lead into the fourth period.

Bradley continued their strong stretch with a three on the first possession of the final quarter, but Musgrave answered with a mid-range jumper off an assist from Haack on UIU's first offensive possession. The teams continued to trade buckets as each team remained perfect from the floor and traded points on each of the first six possessions of the period. The UIU defense forced the first miss of the fourth quarter at the 7:37 mark, but Bradley made a layup on their next possession to go up 66-46. UIU's Haack answered with a three-pointer, but Bradley hit another layup on the ensuing attack to go up 68-49. The Braves ended the game on a 15-4 run to clinch an 83-53 win on their home court.

STATS OF THE GAME… 

• Bradley shot 51.7% from the floor on 60 shots while holding Upper Iowa to a 29.5% clip on 61 attempts.

• The Braves only hit one more three-pointer than the Peacocks, but BU shot 8/21 (38.1%) while holding UIU to 7/23 (30.4%)

• The Peacocks shot 76.9% (10/13) from the charity stripe, while the Braves shot just 59.1% (13/22).

• Upper Iowa out-rebounded Bradley 42-37, including a 14-8 advantage on the offensive glass. 

• BU finished with a 31-11 advantage in bench points, a 17-5 advantage in points off turnovers, a 17-0 advantage in fastbreak points, and a 42-8 advantage in points in the paint. 

PEACOCKS OF THE GAME… 

• Jessica Musgrave finished with a team-high 16 points on 6/11 (55.4%) from the floor and a perfect 4/4 from the charity stripe. She also grabbed 7 rebounds, including 3 offensive boards.

• Lydia Haack scored 13 points on 4/14 (28.6%) shooting, but went 2/5 (40%) from deep and 3/3 from the free-throw line. Her 4 assists and 2 steals tied for game-highs, and she played a game-high 33 minutes. 

• Brooke Evenson added 7 points on a 2/6 (33.3%) clip from behind the arc and added five rebounds.

UP NEXT… The Peacocks welcome Rockhurst University to Fayette for UIU's home opener as they tip-off at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 19, in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium.