Box Score / Game Notes / Photo Gallery
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's basketball team got the 2016-17 season rolling Sunday with an 86-58 exhibition victory over visiting Ursuline College at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers used a dominant performance in the post, outscoring the arrows 58-8 in the paint and 23-0 on second-chance points as Purdue won its 38th straight exhibition contest and 13th straight under head coach Sharon Versyp.
Purdue committed eight turnovers for the game, marking their lowest total in an exhibition game under Versyp, the majority of which came in the opening minutes of each half. The Boilermakers outrebounded Ursuline, 46-25, including 19 offensive rebounds, and outscored the Arrows on the fast break, 12-3. While the Old Gold & Black pounded the inside, the Arrows chose to hoist from the outside, taking 33 of their 52 shots from behind the arc, and connecting on 15 of them.
The Boilermakers' scoring was incredibly balanced Sunday, seeing 9-of-10 players in action find the bucket, including four players in double-figures. Junior Andreona Keys, sophomore Dominique McBryde and freshman Ae'Rianna Harris tied for the Boilermakers' top-scoring spot, posting 16 points apiece on a combined 62.9 percent shooting (22-35), while rookie Dominique Oden had 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including Purdue's only two 3-pointers. Keys added five assists and two steals, while McBryde finished with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals and Harris had five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Senior Bridget Perry had a game-high 10 boards for the Boilermakers, and matched would-be career highs with five assists and three blocks. Classmate Ashley Morrissette did a bit of everything, finishing with six points, five rebounds, four assists, a block and three steals. The Boilermakers' 15 steals as a team matches their highest single-game total from 2015-16.
Junior Laney Lewis paced Ursuline with 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and a pair of blocks, while sophomore Natalie Koenig joined her in double-figures with 11 points. The Arrows shot an impressive 45.5 percent from 3-point range, including a scorching 64.3 percent (9-14) in the second half.
Purdue opens the regular season Friday in Bangor, Maine, facing the Black Bears in the opening round of their tip-off tournament at 5 p.m. ET. It will be just the second meeting in program history between the two squads and Versyp's first return to The Pine Tree State since coaching Maine from 2000-05.