Winning streak ends as Nebraska rolls Purdue
Turnovers, a menace earlier this season, came back to undo Purdue on Wednesday evening.
And as a result, the Boilermakers saw their modest three-game winning streak come to an end with a 75-51 loss at Nebraska. Purdue (13-8 overall, 4-3 in the Big Ten) committed 21 turnovers, including 19 in the first 34 minutes, as the Cornhuskers (15-6, 6-2) won going away.
"We've got to be able to score the ball," Coach Sharon Versyp said in her post-game radio interview.
Nebraska, which led by 11 at the half, extended the margin to 57-39 with 5:55 left in the game, having held the Boilermakers' offense largely in check not by limiting their shooting percent but by turning them over. Many of Purdue's giveaways were unforced; only eight came on Cornhusker steals.
The Boilermakers trailed by one after the first quarter, but struggled in the second, scoring only seven points, including a near six-minute drought, as Nebraska used a 13-2 run to turn a 16-all tie into a 29-18 halftime lead. Purdue rallied to eight in the third, but the comeback was brief.
Purdue, which shot nearly 40 percent, got 16 points from Dominique Oden and 14 from Andreona Keys, while Ae'Rianna Harris added 11 points and five rebounds. The Boilermakers, playing with only seven in their rotation, found foul trouble in the second quarter, when Oden and Harris both picked up their second personals.
"I thought the officiating was extremely bad," Versyp said. "But that was where we got. We were going uphill the whole time."
Nebraska, which had 12 players get at least five minutes, shot 48.3 percent, with eight three-pointers and only 10 turnovers, the last while intentionally taking a shot clock violation in the closing seconds. Guard Nicea Eliely led he Cornhuskers with 13.
"They knocked down threes," Versyp said. "I thought we did a good job initially but didn't do a good job finishing."
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