Braves fall to Shockers at 67-54

The WSU women’s basketball team has a recipe for winning.

They start with a core of aggression, and add steals, blocks and rebounds to build pressure.

The results are impressive: an 18 game win streak, a 10-0 record in the Missouri Valley Conference and an average margin of victory of 20 points during the span.

The Shockers defeated the Bradley Braves 67-54 Friday night with that same recipe.

WSU guard Alex Harden led the team with 18 points in a game that the Shockers controlled from the beginning.

WSU started the game on a 15-9 run fueled by good shots and good defense.

Bradley turned the ball over five times in the first six minutes and also let the Shockers get second chances by not rebounding well.

With 10 minutes left in the first half, Bradley closed the gap to 22-18 following two jump shots from guards Fantasia Vine and Leti Lemma.

WSU pulled away.

The Shockers got stops on defense and pushed their lead to the double digits.

Late in the half, WSU guard Alex Harden capped the run by intercepting a lazy Bradley pass.

She took it the other way for a lay-up and was fouled. She made the free throw to push the lead to 20.

“In our last eight minutes we were generating turnovers, we were rebounding the ball, and were getting out, and we did what we do best,” said WSU head coach Jody Adams.

WSU was ahead 46-23 at the break.

“We had a lot of sloppy turnovers and they capitalized,” said Bradley head coach Michael Brooks.

Another part of WSU’s recipe is that after a boiling hot first half, they come out lukewarm in the second with a lack of intensity.

This happened again Friday night. Bradley played better than WSU and outscored them 31-21 in the second half.

Both teams traded shots back and forth, but due their first half performance, WSU’s lead did not slip below double digits.

After the game, Brooks said WSU was a “wonderful team.”

“They are the best team this league has seen in some time,” Brooks said.

WSU head Jody Adams said she was proud of the continued success of her team.

“It is not easy to walk the stage they have built,” Adams said.

The Shockers play Sunday at 2:05 p.m. against Loyola at Koch arena.