By ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist Paul Letlow
MONROE, La.  – Nunu Bradford had every right to grin as she dribbled out the final seconds of ULM's 78-62 win over Miami (Ohio) Saturday night.

Bradford stuffed the stat sheet with 30 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six 3-pointers to lead an impressive showing by the Warhawks (1-1) that made a winner of first-year head coach Missy Bilderback in her Fant-Ewing Coliseum debut.

"It feels good to be back with my coach who I played for at JUCO," said Bradford, who played 53 games at Clemson the past two seasons. "Not to dwell in the past. I really wanted to get that Arkansas game for her but we're moving forward. I'm just excited to see what we have in front of us."

ULM led from the jump, with Jakayla Johnson and Lauren Gross adding 15 points to the effort. The Warhawks made 15 3-pointers, outrebounded the RedHawks 41-31, scored 16 points off turnovers and had 19 assists. Gross made five 3-pointers and Johnson added three to the long-range attack.

"The first thing that came to mind is, we can get so much better," Bilderback said. "I was pleased that we outrebounded them plus-10, especially with their size.

"For Nunu, I'm just really happy for her individually. She was a little disappointed in the Arkansas game. I thought she had a great game up there but it didn't meet her standards. She's been really locked in the past few days and I knew she was going to come out and have a great game tonight."

Paced by Bradford's 10 first-quarter points and two 3-pointers, the Warhawks raced to an early advantage. ULM made 6-of-11 3-point shots to surge ahead 25-17 after one period.

Points were harder to come by in a defensive second quarter that saw Miami outscore ULM 13-11.

After trailing by as many as 12, Miami pulled within three points at 31-28 with a 9-0 run. ULM went more than three minutes without a bucket until Gross stroked her third 3-pointer with 1:05 left in the half.

ULM took a 36-30 lead into the break, led by 13 points and four assists from Bradford and nine points from Gross. The Warhawks shot 38 percent from the floor (13-of-34) but made 8-of-20 3-point shots.

ULM outscored Miami 14-2 on points off turnovers through two quarters while the RedHawks held a 20-8 edge in points in the paint.

The Warhawks pounced on their foe again to start the third, bolting to an 8-0 run to push the lead back to 12 at 44-32. Johnson, who scored 34 in ULM's season-opening loss at Arkansas, and Bradford each contributed 7 points in the 22-9 third period as the lead increased to 58-39.

Jadyn Scott led Miami (0-2) with 23 points and nine rebounds.

Bilderback emerged from the locker room doused with water by her team, in celebration of her first Division I win after coming to ULM following eight seasons at Jones College.

"We put a little water on her to congratulate her on her first D-1 win," Bradford said. "Everybody was celebrating and happy."

Bradford said there's more to come for ULM.

"It's going to be an amazing season," Bradford said. "We have weapons that didn't even get the chance to play tonight. I'm excited to see what they can contribute. I can't wait until we all come together with chemistry and stuff like that."

Tailfeathers: The Warhawks return to action on Thursday, Nov. 16 vs. Milwaukee in the McNeese Multiple-Team Event. ULM tips off at the Legacy Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana, at 4 p.m. … ULM and Miami were meeting for the first time in the first round of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. The first round of the Challenge features schools from the Mid-American Conference visiting Sun Belt Conference schools, while the second round will be played on Feb. 10 with SBC schools heading to MAC schools. The second set of matchups will be determined by the NCAA's NET Rankings in January. … Hammered as she buried a 3-pointer with 5:40 left in the third quarter, Johnson made her free throw to convert the four-point play.