The Bradley Braves women’s basketball team led after each of the first three quarters and at one point built a 10-point lead in their opening round game at the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
But the Braves faded in the final minute of the fourth quarter in a 63-60 loss to George Washington on Thursday at Charles E. Smith Center.
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Bradley stars Kaylen Nelson and Maya Foz had 21 and 20 points, respectively. Nelson had seven rebounds and shot 3 of 13 from 3-point range.
Nelson’s trio of 3-pointers gave her 90 made 3s in 33 games, a single-season record for the Bradley program.
The Revolutionaries’ Gabby Reynolds had a double-double, matching Nelson’s game-high 21 points and adding 12 rebounds.
Bradley led 39-29 with 6:56 left in the third quarter and seemed in command. But George Washington dialed up its defense in the fourth quarter, holding the Braves to 3 of 14 shooting over the final 10 minutes.
“Bradley is a really good team, their guard play is excellent and we knew we’d have our hands full,” Revolutionaries head coach Ganiyat Adeduntan said. “In that fourth quarter we were really good defensively, we were locked in. We weathered the storm and we threw the last punch.”
Bradley Braves star Kaylen Nelson shoots a 3-pointer during a 63-60 loss to George Washington in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament at Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, D.C. on March 19, 2026.
Reynolds hit a 10-foot stepback jumper to put George Washington ahead, 52-51, with 8:03 left in the fourth quarter.
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They traded leads four times over a four-minute span, during which BU guard Mya Wardle had a driving layup and then a 23-foot 3-pointer to build a 58-54 lead with 4:17 left.
The Braves led by four with under two minutes left, but George Washington rallied to the finish.
Bradley Braves guard Mya Wardle shoots during a 63-60 loss to George Washington in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament at Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, D.C. on March 19, 2026.
Kamari Sims had consecutive layups, the latter on which she was fouled by Amy O’Hara to complete an and-1 for a 61-60 lead with 49 seconds left.
Nelson missed a layup and Sara Lewis made a layup coming off a timeout to push George Washington to the 63-60 final.
The Braves had two shots at tying it, both on 3-pointers from Nelson, but her 24-footer missed with 25 seconds left, and her 30-foot desperation try at the buzzer was no good.
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George Washington improved to 16-17.
The Bradley Braves try to stop George Washington star Gabby Reynolds during their 63-60 loss to the Revolutionaries in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament at Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, D.C. on March 19, 2026.
The Braves finished 20-13 and were in a postseason tournament for the first time since the 2020-21 season, when they won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title to gain an NCAA Tournament bid.
They lost in that NCAA Tournament to Texas, 81-62.
Bradley’s last win in a postseason tournament was a 74-71 decision over Tennessee Tech in the Women’s Basketball Invitational first-round at Renaissance Coliseum on March 14, 2012.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley falls to George Washington in first round of WNIT
