ESTERO, Fla. - The Purdue women's basketball team opened the 2015 Gulf Coast Showcase on Friday, earning a 69-52 victory over Louisiana State University (LSU) at Germain Arena. Senior point guard April Wilson paced the Boilermakers with a career-high 23 points, six rebounds and five assists, while junior Ashley Morrissette scored a season-best 15 points as Purdue improved to 4-0 on the season and advanced to play No. 22 Louisville tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.
The Boilermakers got off to a slow start Friday, scoring a season-low 13 points in the opening quarter, but making it out of the period even with the Tigers, 13-13. Junior Bridget Perry and sophomore Andreona Keys did the bulk of the early work for Purdue, scoring four points apiece in the first and grabbing five of the team's nine first-quarter rebounds.
The Old Gold and Black opened things up in the second quarter behind the 3-point shooting of Wilson and Morrissette. The pair made a combined three triples to spark a 15-3 run to open the quarter, and push the Purdue lead to double-digits, 26-16 with 4:44 left until halftime. Freshman Dominique McBryde had a pair of buckets late in the frame to keep pace with the hot hand of LSU senior Akilah Bethel, and guide the Boilermakers to a 33-24 halftime edge. Bethel was 5-of-5 in the first half, keeping the Tigers in the game.
LSU made its push in the third quarter, following the lead of Bethel and junior Alexis Hyder, using a 9-2 run to close the Purdue lead to just one, 43-42, in the last two minutes of the period. However, that was as close as the Tigers would get as Wilson scored five straight to end the third and give Purdue a six-point cushion going to the final frame.
Purdue pulled away in the final quarter, outscoring LSU 21-10 and running away with the game late. The Boilermaker backcourt poured in the points as Wilson had six, Morrissette had five and senior Hayden Hamby chipped in four, while ignoring LSU's full court pressure and committing just one turnover in the period.
Wilson and Morrissette each hit three trifectas in the game, while Morrissette matched a career high with five rebounds. Perry finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Keys had nine points, three boards and two assists.
The Boilermakers limited LSU leading scorer Jenna Deemer to only four points on 1-of-6 shooting, but Bethel picked up most of the slack with 17 points and nine rebounds, converting 8-of-10 from the floor. Hyder finished with eight points and six boards as well for LSU, which falls to 3-3 on the season.
Purdue advances to tomorrow's semifinals, where they'll meet Louisville for a ticket to the championship game. The Cardinals advanced with a 65-53 win over Marist, improving to 1-2 on the season.