Purdue Women Even Up Conference Record

The No. 22  Purdue Women's Basketball team began a stretch of three games in five days with a loss against Michigan Wednesday night. Purdue played poorly against the Wolverines but it didn't carry over in to the next games. On Friday night Purdue handedly dispatched IU. Then on Sunday Purdue matched blows with No. 18 Nebraska and ended the game on top knocking off the Huskers in Lincoln.

Purdue lost 65-49 to Michigan Wednesday night. Not a lot went right for the Boilers against Michigan. The Wolverines struck first and never trailed through the whole game. Purdue drew within one, twice early in the first half, but from then the Michigan lead grew. Whenever Purdue seemed to start a run they would undo their progress by turning the ball over again.  Purdue turned the ball over 16 times which Michigan turned into 15 points. Passing was an issue for the Boilers; forcing passes, and making flat out bad passes. The Michigan defense executed well. Purdue shot 30% from the field and on 58% from the line. KK Houser's and Courtney Moses' absence from the scoring column was glaringly obvious. Houser finished with three points and Moses had eight. April Wilson was the leading scorer for Purdue with 12 and Liza Clemons added 10.

Purdue corrected their mistakes against IU in a 86-53 win. Purdue out performed IU in almost every statistical category. Purdue dialed up the defense against the Hoosiers as IU shot 25% from the field. The Boilermakers also turned them over 17 times. On the other end of the floor Purdue shot 45% and only committed 12 turnovers. The teams traded baskets for much of the first half and IU even gained the lead with 5:46 left, but not long after Purdue started a 50-12 run that put the game out of reach. The 14 minute run started in the first half and ended eight minutes into the second half. Moses and Houser rebounded from their lackluster performances against Michigan; Moses finished with 24 and Houser had 22 points and 8 assists. Whitney Bays also had a good night putting up 16 and pulling down 14 rebounds.

The Boilermakers picked up a quality road win Sunday knocking off Nebraska 77-75. Whitney Bays had another strong game and scored the game winning basket with one second left on an offensive put-back after a April Wilson miss. Purdue led for most of the game. Nebraska would cut into the Purdue lead at times; they last led the game at the 10:13 mark of the second half. A furious 10-3 run over the last four minutes allowed Nebraska to tie the game with 29 seconds left, but they failed to grab the rebound and Bays put Purdue out in front for good. Both teams shot the ball well Sunday. Nebraska shot 50% from the field and 46% from three. Purdue finished 45% from the field and 52% from three. Moses was 5-9 from three and ended the game with 21 points. Bays contributed 19 points and seven rebounds. Houser added 16 points and 6 assists. Purdue also kept Jordan Hooper in check; Hooper averages 20 and 10. On Sunday she finished with nine points and four rebounds in 39 minutes of action.

Purdue will get much needed rest this week as they only face Northwestern this week. Purdue will look to pick up the equalizer in the season series. Purdue lost on the road 71-68 to the Wildcats on 1/9. If Purdue continues their hot shooting and the bigs can continue their progress Purdue should be able to move to 4-3 in conference.