Box Score / Notes / Photo Gallery
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's basketball team sent its trio of seniors out in grand fashion Sunday afternoon, honoring them with a 68-48 victory over Wisconsin in their final regular season home game at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers finish the Big Ten schedule at 19-10 overall and 10-8 in conference play, securing the No. 6 seed in this week's Big Ten Tournament, and will play Thursday at Bankers Life Arena in Indianapolis against the winner of Illinois and Penn State.
While the day was dedicated to the Purdue seniors, it was junior Ashley Morrissette who made their final game at Mackey Arena a memorable one. The Twinsburg, Ohio native poured in a career-high 28 points, draining 9-of-14 from the field, and 5-of-8 from behind the arc, and matched a career-high with four steals as well. She got off to a quick start scoring 19 points in the opening half, including back-to-back triples and eight straight points to break the game open in the second quarter and stretch the Purdue lead to 42-28.
Senior April Wilson was the only other Boilermaker in double-figures, chipping in 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Her five helpers pushed her career total to 500, becoming the fifth active player in the Big Ten and sixth player in Purdue history to hit the mark, and just the fifth player in Purdue women's basketball history to post 1,000 points, 500 assists and 200 steals in her career.
Wilson's classmates made their mark in their final Mackey Arena appearance as well, as Hayden Hamby was 3-of-3 from the field for eight points, adding three boards and three assists as well, while Torrie Thornton finished with five points, two rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot, despite missing a chunk of the second half with an ankle injury.
Freshman Dominique McBryde followed up Thursday's career-high scoring effort with another solid game, grabbing a career-best 10 rebounds to go with five points and two blocks. Sophomore Andreona Keys did the dirty work once again, posting four points, six rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes.
Sunday got off to a crazy start as neither side seemed willing to miss shots, both hitting over 60 percent in the first 10 minutes to give Purdue a narrow 26-24 edge at the end of the first. The Boilermakers set the tone the rest of the way with their defense, holding the Badgers to single-digit scoring in the second and fourth quarters and 10-of-44 (.227) for the final 30 minutes of regulation. Purdue was only able to force Wisconsin into 14 turnovers Sunday, but took full advantage converting them into 20 points, including 13 off of nine turnovers in the second half. Purdue finished 25-of-53 from the field (.472), including an outstanding 9-of-15 from distance, and topped Wisconsin on the boards 37-30.
Wisconsin was paced by senior Michala Johnson, who finished with 18 points and four rebounds, while junior Avyanna Young added 10 points and five boards. Senior sharpshooter Nicole Bauman filled the box score with seven rebounds and seven assists, but managed only seven points on 2-of-12 shooting, including a 1-of-7 clip from distance. The Badgers finish the regular season at 7-21 overall and 3-15 in conference play, and will be the No. 13 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, facing 12th-seeded Northwestern on Wednesday in Indianapolis.
The Boilermakers continue the season Thursday at approximately 9 p.m. ET, facing the winner of No. 11 seed Penn State and No. 14 seed Illinois in Indianapolis. The game will air live on the Big Ten Network.