Morrissette gets 1,000 as Purdue rolls to sixth straight win

Only 4:06 into Saturday’s game, Ashley Morrisette was forced to the bench with two fouls.

And she sat for the next 16 minutes.

As she was stuck on 999 career points.

It was a lengthy wait, made easier because her teammates had little trouble with Eastern Michigan in her absence. They turned a two-point lead into 11 at the half, then when Morrissette returned in the second, the Boilermakers turned it into a blowout.

Meanwhile, the senior got her 1,000th point.

“It really special and I can definitely say that I really appreciate it,” Morrissette said following Purdue’s 77-50 win in Mackey Arena, the Boilermakers’ (9-4) sixth straight. “Being here for four years, I definitely have to say it’s been a process, from where I was at freshman year to where I’m at now. It’s a large improvement. I’m very proud of this.”

Morrissette — Saturday’s foul trouble aside — is playing at a career best. Coming in, she was one of only two players in the Big Ten averaging at least 15 points, four rebounds and four assists per game. Against the Eagles, she scored 10 points with four dimes and a rebound in a season-low 21 minutes; she became the 30th Purdue player in its history to cross the 1,000-point milestone, doing so on a three-pointer with about six minutes left in the third quarter, as the Boilermakers took a 49-29 lead.

“Ashley has been playing the best basketball she’s played since she’s been here,” said Andreona Keys, who had a career-high nine assists, including one on Morrissette’s triple. “You’ve seen that. She’s had 27 points (in a game), 30 points, she’s scoring but also making everyone around her better. She’s distributing the ball, has the most assists on the team, and is D-ing the guards up on the other team. She’s done a great job this year.”

Morrissette’s triple ended a 13-2 run to start the second half, putting EMU away. It was impressive. Keys hit a jumper off her own rebound, then moments later keyed a fast-break off her steal, finding Bridget Perry for a layup. On the next possession, Morrissette got free for the three-pointer.

The margin hit 30 on another 13-2 run to start the fourth.

The Boilermakers, as they’ve done during the winning streak, shared the ball offensively, assisting on 19 field goals. And the offensive production was distributed, as well: Perry led Purdue with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, with seven rebounds, while Dominique Oden had 13 and five. Keys had nine points, her nine assists and six rebounds, while Dominique McBryde, back in the starting lineup after a one-game absence, had eight points, 11 rebounds and a season-high four blocks.

After, Sharon Versyp was asked if she could pick a player of the game.

“I wouldn’t,” Versyp said. “I’d pick a team of the game. Everybody did so many different things .We keep talking about needing to do your role and I think today was probably the most efficient for every player that got in.”

The Boilermakers shot 46.3 percent, with only 12 turnovers. They forced 14, turning those into 24 points, and had an edge on the glass, winning there 44-33, with 12 second-chance points.

EMU, which hit only 34 percent of its shots and only 25 percent after a 5-of-6 start, featured guard Micah Robinson the only Eagle in double-figures, with 20.

Purdue, coming off its finals week, led only 15-13 in the first four minutes, but the Boilermakers got rolling. It happened to come with Morrissette on the bench, a rarity this season. But with Keys, a wing, running the point, the Boilermakers operated well in the halfcourt, finding gaps in the Eagles’ zone, getting the ball to the baseline and inside. Purdue scored 38 in the paint.

“(The stretch) let us know that we’re still capable of scoring the basketball without her and we can still control the game,” Keys said. “Usually, when I’m the point guard, it’s really relaxed, I’m a little slower, I don’t push the ball. It’s just setting up the offense and trying to execute the plays.”

Morrissette was antsy watching, but trying to stay patient, then got her milestone in the second half.

“I tried to stay in the game, cheering from the bench, and they did a great job while I was out of the game,” she said. “… When I got back in in the second half, I just continued (what we were doing) from the first half.”

Membership Information: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?

Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2016. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.