WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Back in the postseason for the first time since 2018, the Purdue women's basketball team ran to a wire-to-wire win 82-60 win over Southern Illinois in the first round of the WNIT on Wednesday at Mackey Arena.
The Boilermakers (17-14) shot 56.9% from the field and dished out 21 assists on 33 made field goals. Purdue put a trio of players in double figures topped by a career-high 27 points from Brooke Moore. Moore set the program record for scoring and 3-pointers in a WNIT game.
Rokia Doumbia matched her career high with 13 points, and Jeanae Terry added 10 points.
Several Boilermakers flirted with double-doubles on the night. Doumbia had 13 points and eight rebounds. Terry finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Abbey Ellis chipped in nine points and nine rebounds.
Purdue tallied 48 points in the paint and scored 24 points off fastbreaks. The Boilermakers' bench outscored SIU 40-6.
The Boilermakers set the tone in the first half shooting a blistering 62% on 18-of-29 shooting. Doumbia and Moore combined to score 23 points over the opening 20 minutes, matching the entire score for Southern Illinois (21-10).
Purdue scored the first six points of the game and kept the Salukis off the board for nearly the first three minutes. The guests never allowed the Boilermakers to build the lead to more than seven in the opening frame.
The Boilermakers added to the lead in the second, outscoring the Salukis 26-12 in the frame with 19 combined points coming from Doumbia and Moore. The 26 points were the most in a second period this season. Purdue shot 11-of-16 in the second quarter from the field and knocked down three triples.
Up 20 out of the break, the Salukis chipped the gap down to 17 before Ava Learn tallied all nine of her points, including seven straight for Purdue, to extend the lead to a game-high 25 late in the third.
The Boilermakers cooled a bit in the second half to shoot 51.7% over the final 20 minutes. Southern Illinois pulled within 15 midway through the fourth, before the Boilermakers closed out the game making seven of their final eight shots.
OFF THE BENCH
Purdue notched 40 points off the bench, good for second most this season behind a 44-point outing in the regular season finale against Wisconsin. In addition to Moore's 27 points, Learn added nine and both Jayla Smith and Ajah Stallings scored two points. Moore is the only player from the Big Ten with three 20-point games off the bench this season.
DROPPING DIMES
Purdue notched 21 assists on 33 made field goals for their sixth game with 20 helpers or more. As usual, Terry led the way with eight. Doumbia added four, Cassidy Hardin and Abbey Ellis chipped in three and Moore, Smith and Nyagoa Gony added one.
QUOTE
Head coach Katie Gearlds …
We ran. We ran with good pace. I think Rokia and Brooke pretty hard. They were special there in the open floor. We went small, and Rokia went out there running. We were able to get some stops. We didn't want to play in the halfcourt with SIU. They're really good defensively. We needed to get in the open floor and we did that tonight.
NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series 6-5 and is 2-1 against Southern Illinois
• The Boilermakers are 3-0 in the WNIT First Round.
• The Boilermakers dominated the glass and won the rebounding battle 42-31.
• Purdue's 24 points in transition matched a season high set in the win over Miami on Dec. 19.
• Moore went 10-of-15 from the field, setting a new career high for field goals made.
• Doumbia matched her career high with 13 points set previously when she was at Arkansas against Vanderbilt on Jan. 19, 2020.
• Purdue has had more assists than turnovers in 15 games this season.
• Ajah Stallings scored her first points of the season in the fourth quarter.
• Purdue set the program record for points, field goal percentage, margin of victory, rebounds, assists and steals in a WNIT game.
UP NEXT
Purdue will travel to Marquette for the second round of the 2022 WNIT. Tipoff is set for Monday, March 21, at 8 p.m. (ET).