The high school-sized gym on the Illinois Central College campus was packed with a sea of red and the air was thick with “War on 74” passion.

The ISU women’s basketball team battled Bradley at Lorene Ramsey Gym in East Peoria, Ill., Sunday afternoon where the ‘Birds (15-5, 8-1) stomped the Braves (10-9, 6-3) 68-53.

“It was a tough game and both teams had a lot on the line. It was a battle,” head coach Robin Pingeton said. “I was proud of our girls, they had good composure and played with a lot of passion and toughness. I thought we got [Bradley’s] attention.”

Both ISU and BU hit the court as if a war had just broken out and the level of physical play, specifically in the second half, was testimony to the rivalry spirit.

“To beat a team like Bradley, it has to be a team effort and I thought we did a good job with that. We did a great job of moving the ball,” Pingeton said.

All five starters contributed to a second half kick-off run where the ‘Birds accumulated 10 quick points and held the Braves to four.

Senior Nicolle Lewis scored the first basket of the half with an assist from junior Amanda Clifton. Junior Hannah Spanich hit a jumper to increase the lead to 19 points and the defense stepped up to hold the Braves scoreless for four minutes.

“We came in ready to play and it was a very physical game,” senior Ashleen Bracey said. “There was a lot of passion out there, but you can’t let [the physical game] get to you.”

Halfway into the second period, Bracey took a hard hit inside and the crowd responded with a fury.

Bracey was pulled aside to have a talk with a referee, but the forward quickly regrouped and responded with a layup. Bracey grabbed a foul and completed the three-point play to spark the ISU defensive and offensive intensity to take the score to a 24-point lead.

“The key was to keep our poise and composure,” Pingeton said. “Early on, we missed a few shots but we didn’t get deflated from them and we came back later in the second half and shot the ball well.”

In the first half, the ‘Birds shot 43.3 percent from the field, but   improved to 50 percent in the second half.  

Both teams were forced to make frequent subs later in the game due to the physical beating the ‘Birds and Braves took on the court and the players on the bench became influential assets in the last ticking seconds.

Although BU’s bench outscored ISU’s 38-18, the Braves were trailing by too large a margin to make a comeback.

Bracey led the ‘Birds with 22 points and nine rebounds while Lewis followed closely behind with 19 points and six boards. Senior Maggie Krick added four steals and six rebounds.

As ISU extended its winning streak to eight games, the Redbirds also finished the first half of the conference season in first place. It is the fourth consecutive time that ISU has been on top of the Missouri Valley Conference at the halfway point.

“This is a huge rivalry win and it’s exciting to be on top of the conference,” Lewis said. “But in this conference, you never know what to expect and we still have to play our best.”

The Redbirds head into the second half of the season on Saturday to play Indiana State at Redbird Arena at 2:05 p.m.