Boilermakers lose second straight on Western swing
At times during the start of this season, turnovers have hurt the Boilermakers.
The third quarter Friday night, in the opening game of the Rainbow Wahine Challenge in Honolulu was one of those times. The Boilermakers (3-2) committed nine third-quarter turnovers against USC, seeing their one-point halftime lead turn into a 10-point deficit. USC held on to win 58-46.
"We just couldn't take care of the basketball," Coach Sharon Versyp said in her post-game radio interview. "There was like nine turnovers and they went down and scored layups. The biggest thing is our defense — we held them to 58 — but you can't have nine turnovers at the beginning of the second half. ... It totally got us on our heels."
Purdue shot only 29.8 percent from the floor while committing 20 turnovers, with the Trojans (5-0) converting those to 16 points. They also had 15 second-chance points off 12 offensive boards.
Despite its offensive problems, the Boilermakers held a 25-24 lead at the break, but USC scored the first eight of the second half to take control. The edge hit 13 late in the third, then was up to as many as 16 in the fourth.
Andreona Keys led Purdue with 12 points while Dominique Oden had eight points and eight rebounds. Ae'Rianna Harris finished with 10 rebounds but had only eight points on 3-of-10 shooting.
"We went to her and she didn't attack, didn't get deep," Versyp said. "She was totally out of the game. That hurt us. We've got to be able to score down low and she's got to be able to do that for us."
USC was led by Sadie Edwards, who had 21.
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