Bradley Braves Women’s Basketball. What comes to mind when you hear that name? I’d assume a general response would be something along the lines of “Who? Are they good?” The Bradley University women’s basketball team started their season off at 9-0. They then cooled off and went 11-10 for the rest of the season. The team finished their season in fifth place of the Missouri Valley Conference with a conference record of 10-8. The Braves ended their season by losing against the Illinois State Redbirds in the first round of the MVC Tournament. The team started off so hot, but cooling off in the manner that they did, ultimately resulted in the end of their season.
The team consists of 14 players total, 5 freshmen, 4 sophomores, 3 juniors, and 2 seniors. Could the issue have been the lack of experience in the freshman and sophomores? Could this season be the result of a lack of leadership in the locker room because there are only 5 other players with more than 1 year of experience? The Bradley Braves women’s basketball team has nothing to be ashamed of, their season although ended to a nearby rival, Illinois State, the season was highlighted with honors awarded to many of the younger players. Gabi Haack, Chelsea Brackmann, and Lasha Petree took home multiple awards. Haack and Brackmann both walked away with All-Valley Honors and MVC Scholar-Athlete Honors, with Petree earning an All-Valley Honorable Mention, and taking home both MVC Freshman of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year. We were able to talk with a few players after the season ended about their overall thoughts and predictions for the season that had just ended and the future.
The first player we talked to was Gabi Haack, a sophomore, who had All-Valley Honors. One of the questions we asked Gabi was if she felt that the team improved significantly over the past season? “Yes, we got better every day! We had the best non-conference season a women’s Bradley team has ever had (10-1). We won 20 games which only happened for the second time in school history. We made a lot of history this season.” she stated. When we asked her which players she believes will have a bigger role next season, she replied “Everyone’s role on the team is of equal importance and is crucial to our success next season. We’ll be losing two seniors and bringing in two freshmen, so it’s important we have people step up as leaders because V and Shun will be gone.” Expect Haack to be in more of a leader type role as a junior next season. We later spoke to one of the juniors who shines brightly for the women’s team, winning All-Valley Honors, Chelsea Brackmann, we asked her what were her realistic predictions for the season, and she responded “Coming in this season our prediction was a conference championship. Everyone had that mindset and we all had the same goal. Fortunately, we were able to win 20 games but sadly fell short in the tournament.” We followed up by asking her what she hopes to achieve with the team next season, she declared that “Next season we hope to have another successful season and hopefully win that conference championship and make it to the NCAA tournament.”
Lastly, we spoke to Lasha Petree, the freshman who took the team by storm. Coming in second for team PPG with 13.2 PPG, on 35% shooting from three, all while being reserved to a bench role. We asked her what she thinks her overall game needs for her to become the best player she can be, she responded, “Working on my strength is my first priority, I am a big guard in the valley and adding post-ups and becoming stronger getting to the basketball I think will help me a lot next year. I am also looking to improve my skill set, my ball handling and pull up jumps shots because I know I will be closely guarded on the floor”. Coming off of a season that didn’t end up favoring the Braves, Petree going into her sophomore year now knows what to expect for the upcoming season, so we asked what she plans to do to improve during the off-season. She stated that her plans include “Definitely being in the weight room a lot and on the court working on developing my skill set. I also play a lot of pick up ball and am trying to improve my IQ and sight on the floor. ”. As a freshman, with such a scoring outburst from the bench, and receiving multiple honors for the season she had, it is expected for her to be more of a focal point of the team.
The Braves women’s team had a historic run this season, although they fell short of their goal, they have something special brewing down in Peoria, and we can’t wait to see the future of this team.