Cold shooting, lack of defensive intensity send Purdue women's basketball to lackluster loss
Nebraska took advantage of the Boilermakers' dismal shooting performance and pulled away for a 77-65 victory at Mackey Arena
The Boilermakers suffered a rare home blowout loss Saturday to the Huskers
COLD SHOOTING
The same problem that haunted the Boilermakers in Lincoln resurfaced Saturday. Purdue struggled to score in the Jan. 31 loss, and the same thing happened in the final 30 minutes. But wasn’t always that way. The Boilermakers finished the first quarter hitting 5 of 6 from the field and built a 10-point lead and Jeanae Terry had seven assists. The advantage evaporated in the second quarter as Purdue went cold and the Huskers found their shooting touch. The Boilermakers missed 20 of 27 field goal attempts in the second and third quarters and trailed by 11. Abbey Ellis and Mary Ashley Stevenson each scored 16 points and Stevenson added four rebounds. Terry only had four more assists to finish with 11. Purdue played the last 30 minutes through its offense, and it carried over to the defensive end, which lacked intensity and allowed the Huskers to score easy baskets or hit open 3-pointers.
PHOTO GALLERY: Dave Wegiel Photography
“This is kind of a microcosm of our entire season,” Purdue coach Katie Gearlds said. “We missed shots, we make a defensive mistake in transition, (Logan Nissley) hits a corner 3, and we come down and miss a shot, and we come down and make a defensive mistake, and we go under (Nissley), and she hits a 3 at the top of the key.
“When you miss shots, you’ve got to be a little more gritter on the other end to figure it out. That’s not been who we are but it’s the way you have to be.”
BOX SCORE: Nebraska 77, Purdue 65
BEATEN ON THE BOARDS
Another repeat performance. This time in the rebounding department. Nebraska owned the rebounding in the first meeting and did the same on Saturday. The Huskers held a double-digit advantage throughout most of the second half, thanks to Alexis Markowski, who collected an impressive double-double with 20 points and 21 rebounds. How impressive was the rebounding total? Purdue had 26 total rebounds. Nissley was impressive as well, scoring 18 points, hitting three 3-pointers and Jaz Shelley was 10 of 10 from the line and totaled 18 points. The lack of rebounding prevented the Boilermakers from using their transition game to find easy baskets. Purdue doesn’t function well in the halfcourt, and it was forced into that style too often Saturday.
PHOTO GALLERY: Chad Krockover Photography
“It was a huge challenge,” senior Jeanae Terry said of Markowski. “She’s a really good big in the Big Ten. We are just trying our hardest and throwing different defenses at her to see whichever one works. She played a great game. She was aggressive and she was trying to be the aggressor.”
BAD HOME PERFORMANCE
The Boilermakers have played well at home this season, even though they suffered losses to Iowa, Indiana and Ohio State. Overall, though, they’ve brought the energy and enthusiasm at Mackey Arena, but the poor shooting drained the intensity, and Purdue didn’t make up for it in other areas. The defense lacked awareness. It wasn’t turnovers, as it kept the total under double digits. The crowd was into it early as the Boilermakers took a 10-point lead, but once the shots didn’t fall, the emotion quickly faded.