IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Purdue women's basketball team took things to the wire Thursday, but Iowa finished the game on an 8-0 run to deal the Boilermakers a 63-55 defeat at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The loss is Purdue's fifth straight as the Boilermakers drop to 16-10 overall and 7-8 in conference play, while Iowa improved to 16-11 overall and 6-9 in the Big Ten.
Iowa outscored the Boilermakers in the paint 36-22, paced by the interior tandem of sophomore Chase Coley and freshman Megan Gustafson, who finished with 14 and 18 points, respectively. Purdue turned the Hawkeyes over 21 times, converting those into 22 Boilermaker points, but Iowa cashed in 17-of-23 at the charity stripe, while Purdue made just 7-of-10. Iowa set a Purdue opponent record by committing just seven fouls in the game, and 56th opponent in school history to not make a 3-point field goal, going 0-of-5.
The Boilermakers had just two players in double-figures as senior April Wilson and sophomore Andreona Keys posted 14 points apiece. Junior Bridget Perry led the Boilermakers with eight rebounds, followed by Keys with six, while junior Ashley Morrissette dished out a team-high six assists.
Both sides got off to a slow start as the first quarter ended in a 12-12 tie, with Keys doing the bulk of the work for the Boilermakers, scoring six points on 3-of-4 shooting. Iowa pushed ahead in the second quarter, leading by as many as 10 points, but Purdue finished the half on a run, closing the gap to five, 32-27, at the break.
The Boilermakers came to life behind the hot shooting of Wilson in the third quarter, taking their first lead since the opening minutes on a jumper to end the period 49-47. Iowa held its lead over the first six minutes of the third, but a Wilson triple sparked a 14-2 Purdue run where she hit four straight shots to take the lead. However, that would take everything out the tank for the Old Gold and Black as they made just two fourth-quarter field goals and turned the ball over five times in the closing minutes. A Morrissette jumper knotted the score at 55-55 with 4:33 to play, but that would be Purdue's final basket as the Hawkeyes finished on an 8-0 to seal the win.
The Boilermakers return to action on the road Sunday, heading to Nebraska for a Big Ten Network game at Pinnacle Bank Arena.