Purdue stomps Shockers
So far early this season, Purdue’s offense has been mired by extended slumps.
Not Thursday.
On Thanksgiving in Cancun, the Boilermakers shot nearly 52-percent from the field, including a blistering 68.8 percent in the second quarter when they scored 27 points on their way to blowing out Wichita St.
Purdue (2-3) hit 30-of-58 field goals, with 20 assists, including 8-of-15 from three-range in the 86-49 win in the opener of the Cancun Challenge.
“The biggest thing is that this is how Purdue basketball is played,” Sharon Versyp said during her post-game radio interview. “It takes a while. We’re very young and I think that we shared the ball exceptionally well. We focused on the little things, we pushed the basketball. When we execute, we go good things.”
Freshman Dominique Oden, back in the starting lineup, scored a career-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including four three-pointers. She also hit all five of her free throws.
Oden helped Purdue to a quick start, with a couple triples in the first fix minutes, the second giving the Boilermakers a 10-4 lead. Purdue had the margin to 12 by the end of the first, but it was the second that helped the Boilermakers put the Shockers (1-3) away.
The boilermakers started the quarter on a 13-2 run, taking their first 20-point lead on Oden’s triple at 6:29. It reached 28 five minutes later, when Dominique McBryde scored two of her 11.
Purdue, which led 48-25 at the half, had four in double figures. Bridget Perry and Andreona Keys scored 13 each, while McBryde had her 11 with nine rebounds.
Ashley Morrissette cooled off, hitting only 3-of-14, but she scored eight, with seven assists, three boards and a steal.
Wichita St. shot only 35.8 percent, with only two (of its 14 who logged minutes) in double-figures: Rangie Bessard had 12 while TaQuandra Mike had 11.
“We played a 2/3 zone,” said Versyp, whose team plays Northeastern at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. “No one has seen us play any zone this year and I thought we were very efficient.”
The Boilermakers scored 29 points off 18 Shocker turnovers.
But it was the shooting that carried Purdue.
“Our last game, I think those stats were extremely low,” she said. “It’s that focus of what we need to do. Tomorrow it could be different but today we really played collective exceptionally well.”
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