Morrissette leads Purdue to Big Ten/ACC win at Pitt
When Ashley Morrissette got it going in the third quarter, the rest of her teammates followed suit.
The senior guard scored 17 of her 31 in the third session, helping the Boilermakers (4-4) pull away from Pitt, then holding on for a 67-61 victory in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
“I just got into her, said, ‘You’re better than this,’ Coach Sharon Versyp said in her post-game radio interview, “and she came out and scored 31, willed her team to win.”
Morrissette was on fire in the third, missing only her last shot — and it rolled out — after hitting her first six. It helped the Boilermakers rally from a one-point, 25-24, halftime deficit. In the third, she started immediately, hitting two three-pointers in the first 90 seconds. Then, her steal and layup gave the Boilermakers a 34-29 lead at the 8:18 mark of the third.
The margin stretched to a game-high eight two-and-a-half minutes later, when Morrissette scored on a layup.
Morrissette’s 31 is a career-high; she hit 12-of-17 from the floor, including three of her four from long distance. She also had four assists and three steals in 37 minutes.
She had cooled by the fourth, scoring only four, but others took over. Andreona Keys scored six of her 10, and they came at big moments. Tied at 55 with 8:19 left, Keys scored four of Purdue’s next eight, as the Boilermakers held the Panthers (6-1) scoreless for more than six minutes.
By then, Purdue was up 63-55.
Keys finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
“There were certain setups we wanted her to go to the hole and then I called a play for her at the end of the game to be able to get a layup and she just bullied her way in there and did a great job,” Versyp said.
Bridget Perry and Dominique McBryde added eight each for the Boilermakers, while combining for 17 rebounds. Purdue held a slight edge on the glass, winning there 40-38 after it had trailed much of the game.
The Boilermakers shot 45.8 percent from the field.
“Everybody fought, everybody had a purpose,” Versyp said.
Pitt shot less than 33 percent with 16 turnovers. Alayna Gribble led with 14 points, hitting four three-pointers.
Purdue has won three of its last four, after a 1-3 start, climbing back to .500.
“We’ve really made some strides over the last week, week-in-a-half,” Versyp said. “Really excited to be a part of it. We were efficient when we needed to be.”
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