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West Lafayette, Ind. - Purdue women's basketball head coach Sharon Versyp earned her 200th victory at her alma mater on Sunday as the Boilermakers earned a hard-fought 61-58 win over visiting Dayton at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers overcame a four-point fourth quarter deficit and juniors Ashley Morrissette and Bridget Perry iced the win down the stretch as Purdue improved to 6-2 on the year.
"I'm blessed to be able to coach at my alma mater and to have the opportunity to win 200 games at my alma mater," said Versyp. "I came off the court and thanked Morgan Burke and Nancy Cross for the opportunity to be here and be with these exceptional young women."
Dayton built an early 12-7 lead on seven quick points from junior Saicha Grant-Allen, but the Boilermakers settled in down the stretch and their defense turned things around. They held the Flyers to just one field goal in the final 4:55 of the quarter and a pair of buckets from Morrissette trimmed the lead to 14-13 at the break.
Purdue's defensive stand continued in the second as they held Dayton to 3-of-12 shooting in the quarter, while getting things going on the offensive end with a balanced scoring approach. Perry and Morrissette had five and four points, respectively, while Perry crushed the boards, securing seven of her career-high 14 rebounds in the period. Dayton's seven second-quarter points were its fewest in any period this season, and the least scored by a Purdue opponent in the second quarter this year.
The Flyers came out firing after the break, erasing the Boilermakers' lead over the first five minutes and taking a 38-35 edge on a triple by sophomore Jenna Burdette with 3:41 to play in the quarter. Senior April Wilson righted the ship for the Old Gold and Black with a 3-pointer of her own and the Boilermakers got big buckets from Wilson and classmate Hayden Hamby down the stretch, heading into the final quarter trailing 44-43.
Dayton started off the fourth with a huge three from senior Jodie Cornelie-Sigmundova, pushing the lead to 47-43. Neither side could find the bucket over the next few minutes, but Wilson ignited the Boilermakers on a 9-0 run near the 7:00-mark to take a solid lead. Wilson dropped a 3 off a great extra pass from Morrissette, then the senior stole the ball and finished off an old-fashioned 3-point play, bringing the Mackey faithful to their feet. Not done yet, Wilson grabbed another steal from the Flyers and fed freshman Dominique McBryde, who finished with contact for three more points, giving Purdue a 52-47 edge with 6:09 to play. A pair of Dayton free throws slowed the spurt, but Hamby poured on more with a triple off another extra pass from Morrisssette, giving the Boilermakers a six-point cushion 55-49.
Things ran cold for the Boilermakers down the stretch as they went the next 5:00 without a bucket and Dayton chipped away at the lead. Three straight buckets tied the game at 55-55 and a free throw from Dayton's leading scorer, senior Amber Deane, game the Flyers a 56-55 edge with 40 seconds to play. After a Purdue timeout, the Boilermakers ran a baseline play for Morrissette, and after her defender fell down coming around the final screen, the Purdue junior stepped into a 10-foot jumper and drained it to give the Boilermakers the lead for good. Despite making 15-of-18 at the foul line for the game, Dayton suffered all three of its free throw misses in the final 40 seconds, while Perry sank 3-of-4 for the Boilermakers to ice the game.
Wilson finished with 15 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals to lead the Boilermakers, while Morrissette chipped in 13 points, three assists and three rebounds and Perry added 11 points and three steals to her career rebounding night. The double-double is Perry's second of the season and fourth of her career.
Grant-Allen paced Dayton with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Deane had 12 points, six boards and six turnovers and Burdette had 11 points, five rebounds and four turnovers as the Flyers take just their second loss of the year and fall to 6-2.
The Boilermakers return to action Thursday, hosting Incarnate Word in Mackey Arena at 7 p.m.