Bradley, Evansville and UNI all were winners in Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball on Saturday, while the Purple Aces won their fourth game and sit atop the league standings at 4-1, in a tie with Drake.  Southern Illinois suffered a loss to nationally-ranked Kentucky also on Saturday.

UNI 73, Miami (OH) 66
The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team saw overtime action for the second time in as many games on Saturday, but this time the Panthers were able to outscore their opponents 9-2 in the extra period, topping Miami 73-66 in the first round of the Basketball Travelers Husky Classic.

      Tara King led UNI with 23 points, and Jessie Biggs added 19. Megan Keefe put in 11 points for the Panthers, and Kristyn Ferris added a career-high 11 points in the win. Traci Ollendieck and Biggs led the Panthers with eight rebounds each, and Biggs paced UNI with six assists.

            Amanda Jackson was one of four RedHawks to score in double figures, putting in 18 points. Laura Markwood and Eve Pyle each scored 12 points, and Ashley Hawkins added 10.

            Amanda Jackson put Miami (2-3) on the board first with a basket on the RedHawks' first possession. UNI (1-3) outscored Miami 11-2 over the next three minutes, using eight points from Tara King and a three-point play from Megan Keefe. The run put UNI up 11-4 with 16:51 left in the half.

            Miami chipped away at the Panther lead, and cut it to two at 16-14 with 10:51 on the clock. The UNI scored the next five points to bring its lead back to seven, 21-14 at 9:41.

            Miami held UNI scoreless over the next three minutes and cut the Panther lead to 20-21 with 6:46 to play. King ended UNI's scoring drought with her third three of the game, putting UNI up 24-20 with 6:20 on the clock.

            Laura Markwood made a layup to pull Miami to within two, and Jackson was fouled as her layup fell to tie the game at 24. Her made free throw put Miami back on top, 25-24 with 5:33 to play.

            Neither team scored again until Kristyn Ferris hit a jump shot with 2:26 in the half to put UNI back in front. Alexa Mennen connected on a pair of free throws to give UNI a three-point advantage, 28-25 with 2:26 in the half.

            Jackson connected for three to tie the game at 28. A pair of free throws from Jessie Biggs gave the lead back to UNI, but Miami's Courtney Reed scored for the RedHawks to knot the game up at 30 with 1:25 on the clock.

            Biggs scored from the left baseline at the minute mark, and the Panthers took the 32-30 lead into the locker room.

            King scored the first 11 points of the second half for the Panthers, and UNI maintained at least a one-point lead through the first seven minutes of the second period. A jump shot from Traci Ollendieck put the Panthers up 47-42 with 13:10 to play, giving UNI its largest lead of the half.

            Eve Pyle scored the next four points of the game, cutting the Panthers' lead to one, 47-46 with 12:10 to play.

            The Panthers held Miami to just a pair of free throws over the next five minutes, extending their lead to 56-48 with 7:12 to play.

            Miami went on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes, and a pair of free throws from Jackson tied the game at 56 with 5:17 remaining.

            Sarah Larsen ended the Miami run with a jump shot on the left baseline that gave UNI a 58-56 lead, but Miami answered right away with a jump shot from Ashley Hawkins that tied the game at 58 with 4:22 remaining.

            A free throw from Larsen put UNI back in front, 59-58 with 4:01 to play, but Miami scored the next four points to take the lead, 62-59 with 3:02 to play.

            The Panthers cut Miami's lead to two, and Biggs drained a jump shot with 59.5 seconds remaining to tie the score at 64. Both teams were held scoreless in the final seconds to send the game into overtime.

            Ferris put UNI on top for good when she knocked down a three with 3:41 left in overtime. The Panthers scored seven more points in overtime, and did not allow a Miami basket until Hawkins scored with 17 seconds left to bring the final score to 73-66.

            "I'm really happy with the way our team responded in the overtime," UNI head coach Tony DiCecco said. "We led by eight in the second half, and Miami was able to fight back. I'm really proud of the way our kids came out strong in overtime and did not allow a basket until the final seconds."

             UNI finished shooting 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the floor, including 7-of-23 (30.4 percent) from three-point range. The Panthers were 20-of-31 (64.5 percent) from the charity stripe.

            Miami shot 27-of-73 (37 percent) from the floor, and the RedHawks finished 1-of-9 (11.1 percent) from behind the arc. Miami was 11-of-16 (68.8 percent) from the free-throw line.

            For the first time this season, UNI held the rebounding advantage, grabbing 44 compared to Miami's 42.

Bradley 72, San Jose State 56
A balanced offensive attack and the best defensive effort of the season helped Bradley defeat San Jose State 72-56 in the consolation game of the Hoops for the Cure Classic Saturday night in Dallas, Texas. All 12 Bradley players scored and the Braves limited the Spartans to 27.5 percent shooting as Bradley evened its record at 3-3 with the victory.

Despite leading scorer Devyn Flanagan and senior Ashley Chelleen sitting much of the first half due to foul trouble, Bradley led 16-11 with 11:50 remaining in the first half when senior Erika Nelson scored six points during an 11-2 Braves run that gave BU a 27-13 lead with 7:26 left in the half. The Braves extended the lead to as many as 17 points in the first 20 minutes of play and went into the locker room with a 40-26 lead.

Bradley limited San Jose State to 22.9 percent shooting in the first half and shot 38.2 percent before the break to build the 14-point advantage at the half. The Braves pounded the glass in the opening half, collecting 29 rebounds in the period and held an 18-9 advantage in points in the paint at the break.

San Jose State (0-5 overall) opened the second half with a small run, using an 8-3 spurt to pull to within nine points (43-34) with 14:12 to play. The Braves responded with an 8-1 run that pushed the lead back to 16 points (51-35) with 11:38 remaining. Bradley led by as many as 18 points and never allowed the Spartans to cut the lead under 14 points as the Braves cruised to the 72-56 victory.

Senior Amy Peters scored a team-high 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting in her first appearance off the bench. Peters also added seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in 22 minutes. Sophomore Kelly Krumwiede earned a spot on the all-tournament team after posting a double-double against San Jose State. She finished with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and also added 10 rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and two steals.

The Braves shot 36.7 percent in the second half and finished the night with a 37.5 field goal percentage. Bradley struggled a bit from the free throw line, shooting 64.7 percent, but made a season-high 34 trips to the line, making 22 free throws. The Braves had season highs for free throw attempts (34), rebounds (52) and blocked shots (7). Junior Chasity Cotton took advantage of Chelleen’s foul trouble, posting season highs of seven points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes of action.

San Jose State was a little better from the field in the second half, shooting 32.4 percent, but finished the game shooting 27.5 percent from the field, a season-low for Bradley’s opponents to date. The Spartans also struggled from the free throw line, hitting just 15-of-26 shots from the charity stripe (57.7 percent).

Natalie White led all players, scoring 19 points to lead San Jose State. White scored 14 of her game-high 19 points in the first half, but managed just five points after the break and was just 2-of-10 shooting in the second half. Brittany Helm netted 13 second-half points and finished the night with 17 points on 4-of-19 shooting.

Evansville 69, UIC 53
Behind a game-high 24 points from junior guard Rebekah Parker, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team extended its winning streak to three games on Saturday with a 69-53 victory over the Illinois-Chicago Flames at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.

Parker, the current Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, hit 7-of-13 shots, including both of her three-point attempts, and 8-of-9 free throw attempts to lead UE to its first road victory of the year.  She scored 14 of her 24 points in the first half, as she helped Evansville grab a 33-23 halftime cushion it would never lose.

Parker set the tone for the contest in the first 15 seconds, as off of the tip, Parker drove the lane and worked a lay-up to score the first points of the game.  UE would hold between a three and seven point lead for much of the first half, until Parker connected on a three-pointer from the top of the key with 17 seconds left to cap a quick 5-0 Evansville run and give the Purple Aces a 33-23 halftime lead.

In the second half, Illinois-Chicago would eventually trim the lead back to four points, 41-37, with 13:47 to play on a lay-up by freshman Jessie Miller.  That’s when junior guard Tal Milchan sparked Evansville on a personal 7-2 run to put away the Flames.

 Milchan worked a pair of lay-ups and knocked down a three-pointer around a lay-up by UIC’s Nicole Rinaldi to give UE a nine-point lead, 48-39, with 10:40 to play.  From there, Evansville’s lead would expand to as much as 18, before UE settled on the 69-53 victory.

Parker was joined in double-figures by senior guard Ashli Senff, who tossed in 10 points in 15 minutes off of the bench.  Sophomore center Shannon Novosel chipped in nine points and five rebounds, while Milchan and sophomore forward Robyn Jennings added seven points apiece.  Senior forward Jacquay Holmes led UIC with 17 points of 8-of-13 shooting from the floor.

With the victory, Evansville improves to 4-1 overall, while Illinois-Chicago falls to 3-2.

Kentucky 78, Southern Illinois 59
Junior guard Samantha Mahoney (Detroit) scored a season-high 17 points Saturday to lead five Kentucky players in double figures and the No. 20/24 Wildcats capitalized on 23 Southern Illinois turnovers in a 78-59 win over the Salukis in the consolation game of the Odwalla Classic in San Francisco’s War Memorial Gymnasium.

Kentucky (3-2) benefited from a balanced scoring effort, as five players registered double-figure point totals for the first time since Dec. 22, 2005. The Cats scored 26 points off of 23 SIU (1-4) miscues to finish third in the fourth-annual Odwalla Classic. The Wildcat post presence stepped up big, out-scoring the Salukis 38-10 in points in the paint.

The two teams fought evenly to begin the game. With the Wildcats trailing 10-9 at the 13:15 mark of the period, Kentucky went on an 11-0 run over the next 3:09 that included four points from Elliott. The scoring streak that gave the Cats a 20-10 advantage was part of a larger 18-5 run that extended UK’s advantage to 27-15 on a basket by Alcius with 7:16 remaining until intermission.

The Wildcats took a 45-32 lead into the locker room at halftime after shooting 51.4 percent (18-of-35) from the floor in the opening half. The Salukis, however, began chipping away at the Kentucky advantage to begin the second half to come within eight points, 47-39, on a free-throw by Jayme Sweere with 17:52 remaining in the game.

From there, the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run over the next 2:02 to extend their advantage to 54-39 on a three-pointer by Ormerod and the Salukis would not come closer than 11 points the rest of the way. Kentucky led by as many as 23 points, 74-51, with 5:18 left in the game.

Forward Carlai Moore scored a game-high 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting to lead Southern Illinois, while guard Debbie Burris followed in the scoring column with 18 points.