WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's basketball freshman class combined for 31 points and 21 rebounds to lead the Boilermakers to a 62-51 victory over visiting Central Michigan at Mackey Arena on Tuesday. Rookie Dominique Oden put up a game-high 17 points and a career-high eight rebounds, Ae'Rianna Harris had seven points, a career-high eight boards and a career-high five blocks and Lamina Cooper chipped in seven points and a career-high five rebounds as the Boilermakers won their third straight and improved to 6-4.
The Boilermakers won Tuesday night's contest on the boards and defensive end of the floor, outrebounding the Chippewas, 52-33, and holding them to just 30.3 percent (20-66) from the field. Purdue converted 18 offensive rebounds into a season-high 19 second-chance points, and held Central Michigan to several lengthy low-scoring stretches, including just one bucket in the final 6:30 of regulation.
Purdue appeared to be in solid control of the game over the first 27 minutes, racing out to a 21-12 first-quarter lead, heading to the locker room up 35-23, and building their advantage as high as 16, 46-30, with 3:15 left in the third quarter. However CMU was not prepared to go quietly, mounting a 7-0 run to close the third quarter and continuing on a 10-2 spurt to open the fourth and slice the Purdue edge all the way down to one, 48-47, with 6:30 left in the game.
The Boilermaker defense locked in down the stretch with Harris anchoring the effort, holding the Chippewas to just four points on one field goal and a pair of free throws over the final minutes. Meanwhile on the offensive end, senior Ashley Morrissette dished out a pair of highlight reel passes, finding Harris with a behind-the-back feed and rifling a pass through traffic to Oden for an and-one finish to seal up the win.
The Purdue captain trio of Morrissette, fellow senior Bridget Perry and junior Andreona Keys bolstered the freshmen effort as Morrissette had nine points and a team-high six assists, Perry just missed a double-double at nine points and nine boards and Keys added seven points and seven rebounds.
CMU drops to 6-3 with the loss, despite a trio of players in double figures. Junior Tinara Moore and sophomore Presley Hudson tied for a team-high 12 points, while senior Jewel Cotton added 11 points and three steals.
Purdue stays busy this week, heading to Ball State on Thursday for a 7 p.m. ET tip off at Worthen Arena. The contest will air live via ESPN3.
SO SMOOTH from Morrissette!
She goes behind the back for the assist & the Boilers lead it by 4!#BoilerUp https://t.co/yWBXK4W0II-- Purdue On BTN (@PurdueOnBTN) December 7, 2016