Purdue Women's Basketball Moves to 3-3

Wednesday night the Purdue Women's Basketball (3-3) team was edged in overtime by Florida State, 67-64.  The game was a physical match-up. Florida State was able to use their size and deft outside shooting to earn the win. The Seminoles struggled maintaining possession of the ball but were effective when they had it.

Florida State put the pressure on from the start going up 8-1; Purdue didn't hit their first field goal till five minutes into the game. Bree Horrocks entered the game and provided a spark for the Boilers. Horrocks scored six points in an 8-2 Purdue run, drawing Purdue within three, 17-14.  Purdue's shooting woes continued through the rest of half going 3-13 down the stretch. FSU ended the half with six straight points to go up 10 at the break, 34-24. Purdue shot 29% during the first half.

Two minutes into the second half Florida State got their biggest lead of the game. Maegan Conwright drilled a three to put FSU up 39-26. With 17:14 left in the half two April Wilson free throws jumpstarted the Purdue offense to a 16-4 run to cut the margin to one. Purdue got a lot of help from the Seminoles during the run as FSU committed nine turnovers. For the next four minutes the two teams traded baskets. The Boilers took the lead for the first time on a Hayden Hamby layup. The lead was short lived but Purdue kept hanging around. With 2:43 left Liza Clemons tied the game with two free throws. Morgan Jones broke the tie for the Seminoles with a trey with 38 seconds left in regulation. Twelve seconds later Ashley Morrissette answered it with Purdue's only three-point field goal of the half. Purdue locked it down on defense and earned another possession by tying the ball up. There were eight seconds left on the clock when Purdue got the ball back but April Wilson missed a layup that could've won the game. On the same play Whitney Bays set a screen and got slammed into by a FSU defender. Both players went down. Bays was slow to get up and eventually went to the locker room; she did not return for the overtime period. She is currently day-to-day.

Florida State scored first in overtime but Purdue answered with seven straight points. The Boilers were up five halfway through the period. Unfortunately Purdue wasn't able to finish the game off. Conwright hit a three for Florida State. Then Clemons scored Purdue's last points of the game on two free-throws with 1:51 left. Jones hit another triple to cut Purdue's lead to one. April Wilson missed a layup and FSU scored on the ensuing possession. Down one with 16 seconds Ashley Morrissette drove to the basket and was hacked, but there was no foul call. Purdue maintained possession but Morrissette's jumper missed. The Seminoles iced it with two free-throws.

April Wilson led the Boilers with 17 points, five assists, and three steals. Liza Clemons led the Boilers on the boards with eight. Whitney Bays struggled for the Boilers shooting only 3-14. Bays finished with eight points and seven rebounds. Purdue's bench provided 20 points. The Boilers shot 45% during their second half comeback but only 22% during overtime. Purdue shot 82.6% from the line.

Florida State was led by Morgan Jones with 20 points and Maegan Conwright's hot hand, shooting 5-7 from three-point range, finishing with 19 points. Adut Bulgak posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Purdue was outrebounded 47-32. The Seminoles nearly had as many offensive rebounds, 17, as Purdue did defensive boards, 18. Those 17 offensive boards were turned into 18 second chance points. Florida State needed all of them to make up for their carelessness with the ball. Florida State committed 22 turnovers which Purdue was able to convert into 30 points.

Down in the Bahamas Purdue split their two games. Purdue beat Texas Tech in their first game but fell to George Washington in the Junkanoo Jam Final.

Purdue defeated Texas Tech 69-53. Purdue struck first and used big runs to keep the Raiders at bay. The Boilers scored the first eight points of the game before Texas Tech answered with six of their won. Later, up 18-10 Hayden Hamby led a 12-0 run. Purdue lost focus towards the end of the half letting Tech go on an 11-0 run. The Boilers were able to regroup though, and at the half the score read 38-26.

Tech scored first in the second half, but Purdue quickly buried them to give themselves a comfortable lead through the finish of the game. Texas Tech was never able to cut the margin to less than 15 down the stretch.

April Wilson nearly had a double-double for Purdue with 13 points and nine assists. Wilson also had three steals and no turnovers. Whitney Bays had a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards. Liza Clemons also posted 12 points.

Against George Washington the Boilers had a rough first half and were never able to recover despite scoring 40 points in the second half. George Washington won 79-59. Purdue shot 25% in the first half and was 5-11 from the free-throw line. Unsurprisingly Purdue was down 36-19 at the break. Purdue turned up their offense in the second half but they weren't able to slow down the Colonials. The Boilers drew within eight four times but never got any closer. The last time was with five minutes left; Purdue only managed six more points the rest of the way.

April Wilson scored 15 points in the loss. Whitney Bays put up 13. Purdue was outrebounded 43-24. The Colonials shot 50.8% from the floor.

Whitney Bays and April Wilson were named to the All-Tournament team.

Sunday afternoon Purdue will travel to Ohio to take on Dayton. The Flyers are 3-3. Dayton received votes in the latest Coaches poll. The Flyers took on Iowa in Iowa City and only lost by seven earlier in the season. Dayton is led by reigning A-10 player of the year senior do-all guard Andrea Hoover. Hoover averages 18 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 3 apg, and shoots 48% from three-point range. Fellow senior, forward Ally Malott, averages 14.2 ppg and 6.8 rpg.