By: Julie Kestas, Katie Habryle & Kealia Wysocki<\/p>\n
The Bradley Women\u2019s Basketball team hosted their annual Red-White Scrimmage last Saturday at the Renaissance Coliseum with the White Team defeating the Red Team 34-31. The event allowed Bradley basketball fans to see the ladies on the court for the first time in the 2018-2019 season.<\/p>\n
The scrimmage, short but eventful, consisted of two 10-minute halves where the Braves were split into two teams; Red Team vs. White Team. Before the scrimmage began, the crowd, filled with alumni, boosters and Bradley fans, were introduced to the 2018-2019 team, who brings in many new faces.<\/p>\n
With six newcomers, including five freshmen and one junior-college transfer, as well as a new director of operations, Dee Davis, the Braves head into the season with a whole different team culture than that of last season.<\/p>\n
Entering her third season as head coach on the Hilltop, Andrea Gorski doesn\u2019t see the newcomers as a challenge the team needs to overcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, it\u2019s fun, because it is a lot; six of the 15 are new players,\u201d said Gorski. \u201cI feel like they\u2019ve gotten to know each other on the basketball court really well, and they\u2019ve done a great job off the court getting together and becoming a family.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the scrimmage allowing the team to play out in front of their fans and get a taste of home games at the Renaissance Coliseum, freshman guard Tatum Koenig, member of the Red Team, took a lot more out of the scrimmage than a Bradley fan may realize.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis meant a lot to me\u2026 getting a glimpse of the fans and seeing what Bradley Basketball is and just getting to play with my teammates, it just meant a lot,\u201d said Koenig.<\/p>\n
Koenig, playing 16 minutes of the scrimmage, contributed two out of the three Red Team three-pointers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I did a good job staying calm and keeping composure with the ball, hitting shots and staying good in transitions. . . I feel like I played my role well today,\u201d said Koenig.<\/p>\n
Not only does the scrimmage help open the eyes of a freshman like Koenig, but it also helps the team get into a game-like environment and execute their plays. Coach Gorski commented on how this scrimmage is different from any other scrimmage that may occur at practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives a game-feel to it. It was nice to have some officials as well because in practice, you can hand-check a little bit more. With the things that were called today, I think it helps that they were out there,\u201d said Gorski.<\/p>\n
A junior forward, Chelsea Brackmann, also mentioned that the scrimmage means more that just getting to play basketball.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s just a great way to build team chemistry and play against each other,\u201d said Brackmann. \u201cWe love doing it and we have fun doing it. It\u2019s a great experience to bring [my] teammates together and see how we play with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not only does the team get to learn from their mistakes by watching film that is taken from the scrimmage, but players are also able to see where they are at statistically.<\/p>\n
The takeaways from the event will help the team continue to work hard towards their goals. Brackmann mentioned some of those objectives for the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team goal is to obviously win games but to also just give effort every single game,\u201d said Brackmann.<\/p>\n
The team has ambitions of bearing the Missouri Valley Conference title this season. Their journey continues at 2:30pm on Saturday, Nov. 3rd as they face off with Quincy University at the Renaissance Coliseum.<\/p>\n