JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Purdue women's basketball team picked up its third win of the season Saturday, earning a 70-47 road victory over North Florida at UNF Arena. The Boilermakers used a 15-0 first-quarter run to build and early lead and rode it to its 19th 3-0 start in school history.
Junior Bridget Perry did all the work early, scoring the Boilermakers' first nine points of the game on her way to a season-high 18 points and seven rebounds. Her final bucket sparked the Boilermakers' largest run of the season, as they built a 22-4 lead before the Ospreys' buzzer-beater ended the run and the first quarter. Sophomore Andreona Keys scored all six of her points in the game during the run as well.
The second quarter was senior April Wilson's turn to take over the scoring as she drained a trio of triples and the Boilermakers stretched their advantage to 40-19 at halftime. After making just three field goals in the first quarter, UNF started seeing some shots go in during the second, including a pair of 3's from sophomore Sierra Shepherd. Despite the response, Purdue still limited UNF to just 28.6 percent from the field (8-28), while having its best shooting half of the season at 56.0 percent (14-25), including 5-of-10 behind the arc.
The Boilermakers came out a little flat in the third quarter as the Ospreys cut into the lead a bit and made it a 47-29 game with 2:38 left in the period. The Purdue scoring torch was then passed to freshman Nora Kiesler as she scored seven of the Boilermakers' next nine points to finish the third, and then netted two more buckets to start the fourth quarter on her way to a career-high 11 points. The bulk of the Purdue scoring down the stretch came at the free throw line as they attacked the basket late, and locked down defensively, holding UNF without a point for the final 3:11 of play.
Perry, Wilson and Kiesler all scored in double-figures with 18, 14 and 11, respectively; while Perry had a team-best seven rebounds to match her season average. Wilson added five rebounds, four assists and two steals to her scoring total, while Kiesler had a career-high five rebounds and two blocks to round out her scoring line. Keys finished with six points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals as well.
Shepherd led UNF with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists, while junior Claire Ioannidis had 11 points. The Ospreys fell to 1-3 on the year with the loss, shooting 32.7 percent from the field (18-55) and turning the ball over 21 times.
Purdue returns to action Friday against Louisiana State in the opening round of the 2015 Gulfcoast Showcase in Naples, Florida. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised by Cox Sports Television, and webcast on YouTube.