12/17/2017 basketball Edit

Purdue defense stifles Eastern Washington

Kyle Charters • BoilerUpload

Staff Writer

With its offense continuing to struggle, Purdue turned to its defense Sunday, riding it to a win in the first of three games this week at Mackey Arena.

For more than 11 minutes on Sunday afternoon, the Boilermakers (7-5) held Eastern Washington to only a point, turning a two-point lead into 30. And after an inconsistent back-and-forth start, Purdue blew out the Eagles, winning 65-40 in the first of three games over four days at the Basketball Travelers Inc. Invitational.

"We upped our defense," Andreona Keys said of a third-quarter flip that saw Purdue shut down Eastern Washington, holding the Eagles (4-6) to only eight points in the final 15 minutes. "It was scrappy play and we just got the energy going on defense and that translated to our offense, getting easy baskets."

Purdue was scuffling through the first 25 minutes, allowing Eastern Washington to stay close, with the guests trailing only 34-32 midway through the third quarter. But after the Eagles missed a three-pointer from the top of the key, which would have given them the lead, Purdue clamped down.

The next 11 minutes was a clinic, with the Boilermakers going on a 29-1 run to turn the two-point lead into a 63-33 advantage. Frequently, a big defensive play led to fastbreak points, like at the end of the third quarter, then Lamina Cooper's steal turned into a Dominique Oden layup. Twice early in the fourth, a block — one by Ae'Rianna Harris, then by Nora Kiesler — led to runout transition points, with the second forcing an Eastern Washington timeout at 7:32 with Purdue up 56-33.

Just before Kiesler's block, Oden hit back-to-back three-pointers, part of an afternoon that saw the sophomore hit for a season-high 18 points on 6-of-9 from the floor, including all three of her triples.

"I feel more in rhythm, I guess you could say, when we're getting steals, when we're running down the court, our offense is more in rhythm," Oden said.

The game marked a bit of a breakout for Oden, who was Purdue's leading returning scorer this season, yet hadn't found her shot consistently. She came in shooting less than 37-percent, but had 18 plus six rebounds, three assists and two steals Sunday.

"They have to guard her," said Keys, who had 16 points and four boards. "That's been known since last year, that she's going to go out and knock down a shot. That brings openings for us. They go out so far and we can post up and get the ball inside. She's going to keep knocking down shots and I'm going to keep looking for her in the corner. They better do something."

In the first half, it looked like the Boilermakers' offense might have a bit of hangover from their last game before finals, when they had 33 turnovers in a loss to Ohio. Purdue scored only 26 first-half points vs. the Eagles, with 10 turnovers, leading by six at the break.

But the Boilermakers looked inside to start the second, not always converting but often getting to the line. Harris was 7-of-7 at the stripe, helping her to 13-point, six-rebound day.

"I just thought our guards did a better job of looking inside and seeing things," Versyp said. "The first half, we got the ball to Keys and she did a good job, she was able to finish, and the second half, we did the same thing and got 'Ria involved a little bit."

Purdue shot 47.1 percent with 17 turnovers, but it was the defense that crushed Eastern Washington. The Eagles committed 25 turnovers, with Purdue turning those into 31 points.

"Today was a good test, because in previous games, we weren't really able to come back and take control of the game," Keys said. "That's what we did today in the third quarter and hopefully we can keep that momentum going into these next games."

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

Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook

More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast