The offseason has officially ended for the Bradley women’s basketball team as they opened up play Sunday against McKendree University. The women started their 2015-2016 campaign in suffocating fashion, topping McKendree with a score of 52-38.
The Braves defense was the story of the season opener. Bradley forced 35 turnovers and held McKendree to 27 percent shooting for the entire game. Head coach Michael Brooks said he was thrilled with what he saw from his defense.
“I thought we were very aggressive,” Brooks said. “I thought we were able to get a lot of full court pressure on them.”
Sunday also marked the debut of fifth-year senior transfer Kat Yelle, who started at point guard for the Braves. Brooks said this was the first time the team really got a feel for what games will be like with Yelle running the point.
“It’s always different than practice,” Brooks said. “There are always different things that happen during the game, different emotions, so it was good to experience that.”
The Braves only managed to score 52 points on 21 made baskets. They were 0-9 from behind the arc in the first half and finished 3-18. The women also shot below 50 percent from the foul line, something the Braves can’t afford to do when they face tougher competition.
“The area for improvement for us is confidence in hitting shots,” Brooks said. “We have a very good offensive team, but sometimes the emotions in the first game are there. The jitters were evident. What I loved is that in the second and third quarters we started stroking the ball, and we didn’t hesitate, and we took the shots when they were open.”
Brooks also mentioned that he wanted to see the women convert more turnovers into points. Whether it be finishing with contact or drawing a foul, he said the Braves need to be able to score when they’re near the rim.
“We pride ourselves in our transition, but we have to convert those layups in transition,” Brooks said. “I thought we missed a lot of layups, so the areas we have to improve on is making sure our confidence is there on our outside shots, converting those layups and making those free throws when we get to the line. We have to take those easy points.”
Brooks said their offensive game plan involves attacking the rim consistently, and when they can’t score those “easy points,” they’ll have a tough time putting points up. He also said he was emphatic that “belief” among the players that they can compete and win is paramount to their success this year.
“They have been through top-10, top-25 teams on the road and last year the league was very old,” Brooks said. “We’ve had a lot of people leave our league now, so we go from the youngest team to the middle of the pack. It’s a belief now that all of this work and the style that we play and the system that they’re in, that we’re in this place, we can work with each other and put it on the court for wins.”
