Andrea (McAllister) Gorski starts her first season as Braves head coach this winter after a successful run as Southern Illinois University associate head coach.

A familiar face has returned to Bradley women’s basketball.

Andrea (McAllister) Gorski — a Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame member and among the program’s top 10 all-time women’s basketball scoring leaders — starts her first season as Braves head coach this winter after a successful run as Southern Illinois University associate head coach.

Gorski was named Braves coach last spring following a search to find a replacement for Michael Brooks, who was dismissed following a 37-84 record during his four-year tenure.

“My time on The Hilltop as a student-athlete was one of the best experiences of my life and I can’t wait to share my passion for Bradley with the current players, campus and Peoria community,” Gorski said following her hiring.

The Braves open the 2016-17 season on Nov. 11 at Kent State and will take on Detroit a Nov. 18 home opener.

Bradley was picked to finish seventh in a Missouri Valley Conference pre-season poll.

Bradley returns eight letter winners, including three starters, from last year’s team which came within one point of reaching the MVC tournament semifinals.

Forward Leti Lerma is  Bradley’s lone senior and hopes to pick up from her strong late-season performances when she averaged  9.5 points, and 7.1 rebounds over her final 12 games. Last year she was the first Brave since 2004-05 to collect 240 points, 200 rebounds, 30 assists, 15 blocks and 45 steals in a season.

Lerma is just the fifth player in program history to enter her senior year with 500 career points and 500 or more rebounds.

Junior guard Anneke Schlueter topped Bradley in scoring last year at 9.5 points per game contest and her 52 three-pointers were the most by any Brave player since 2011-12.  She’s the ninth player in program history to lead the team in scoring as an underclassman.

Gorski spent the last three seasons as Southern Illinois associate head coach on former Bradley assistant Cindy Stein’s staff. During her tenure, the Salukis improved overall and conference records in each of her three seasons, culminating in the first 20-win season for the Salukis in almost a decade, as well as the program’s first postseason appearance since 2007.

Gorski boasts 20 years of coaching experience, including 17 years as a head coach at the collegiate and high school levels.

Before joining Southern Illinois, she was head coach at Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Mich., from 2008-13. In just five seasons, she became the winningest coach in that program’s history.

— One of all-time greats returns to revive Bradley women’s program —