Redbirds Unable to Overcome Boilermakers in Road Loss

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – As Illinois State fought tooth-and-nail to garner their second Big 10 win of the season Sunday, it would be the home Purdue Boilermakers holding strong to take a 64-51 win over ISU inside Mackey Arena.

The Redbirds fall to 6-3 on the season with one more non-conference game on their slate while Purdue moves to 9-2 as the 2022-23 season rolls on for both programs. 

Illinois State would score the game's first four points off a pair of field goals by DeAnna Wilson and Paige Robinson. Purdue would respond to get their first points thanks to a Caitlyn Harper layup with 8:34 on the clock.

From there, Purdue would score five straight points to build out a 7-4 lead before Jasmine McGinnis-Taylor responded to make it 7-6 as the first quarter media timeout would be called. The Boilermakers and Redbirds would go back-and-forth as a jumper by Ta'Shonna Wright-Gaskins knotted the score at nine with 1:46 remaining. Both sides would score a couple more points, but it was the home team who took a two-point lead after the first 10 minutes (13-11).

The Redbirds would once again be the first on the board in the second quarter, thanks to a Paige Robinson jumper only 11 seconds into the frame. After Robinson's jumper, both programs would be held scoreless until the 7:29 mark when Purdue retook a lead off a Jeanae Terry layup (15-13). The Boilermakers would score two more off some free throws, but Mary Crompton knocked down a three-pointer at 5:50 as the second quarter media was called.

Out of the second quarter media timeout, the Redbirds retook the lead as a Robinson driving layup made it 20-19 in favor of ISU. The Redbirds would hold the lead until the clock was under a minute in the quarter, as Purdue kept it close and tied it with 56 seconds remaining off a Terry driving layup. Then, Purdue would see another layup with mere seconds remaining in the half as the home team took a 25-23 halftime lead.

At the halftime break, ISU would be led by Paige Robinson's 11 points, as Ta'Shonna Wright-Gaskins added four of her own. ISU was led on the boards after 20 minutes by Robinson and Kate Bullman who grabbed four boards, respectively. For Purdue, Jeanae Terry led the way with nine points as she also led the Boilermakers with three rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

Out of the break, ISU would see Mary Crompton knock down her second triple of the afternoon to give ISU a 26-25 lead. However, Purdue would regain the lead right back with 9:01 remaining before Kate Bullman got into the fray to give ISU a 28-27 lead nearly a minute later as the sides traded baskets and the lead. As the third quarter media came, it was Purdue holding a slight lead. For the next two minutes of game time, neither side could get on the board until DeAnna Wilson knocked down a free throw at the 5:27 mark to tie the game at 29. However, Lashae Petree knocked down a triple on the next possession before another Boilermaker three built the Purdue lead out to six before another media timeout.

For the remaining 4:04 of the third quarter, Purdue would maintain the lead as they would see themselves ahead by as many as six at one moment (2:40 remaining). The Redbirds did not give up, though, as they fought to trim the lead to two with 26 seconds left. Purdue would get a massive momentum boost to end the quarter after Smith found her way to the ball and knocked down a buzzer-beating jumper to spread the lead to four as the final 10 minutes loomed and Purdue would start the final frame with the ball. 

After Paige Robinson knocked down a pair of free throws to start the fourth and trim the deficit to two, it was yet another triple by the Boilermakers as the lead was back to five with 9:08 remaining. DeAnna Wilson would make it a three-point game after fighting for some points in the paint, but Smith for Purdue would respond with another triple for the home team as the game stood at 47-41 with 7:54 remaining.

Purdue would expand the lead to eight with 6:38 remaining before Mary Crompton sunk a couple free throws 14 seconds later as ISU trailed by six. Then, over the next minute and a half of game time, Purdue would stretch their lead out to as many as nine before the fourth quarter media timeout was called.

Over the final 4:54 of the fourth quarter, ISU would not get any closer than nine points as Purdue took firm control of the game and started pulling away while keeping the Redbirds offense stagnant. The Redbirds would miss four shots and have another two blocked before Robinson netted a pull-up jumper at 1:22 to make it a 13-point game at that moment, which ended as the final game margin.

Purdue only had one athlete finish in double figures Sunday, as Lasha Petree finished with 14 points on the afternoon. Abbey Ellis would nearly miss out on double figures as she finished the night with nine points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds.  

IN THE BOX SCORE:

• Paige Robinson would lead all Sunday scorers with her 21 points on the afternoon. Robinson would add seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal to her stat line Sunday.
• DeAnna Wilson led the Redbirds in rebounds as she finished the afternoon with eight boards to go along with eight rebounds. 
• The Redbirds would force 18 Purdue turnovers while having 14 turnovers of their own Sunday.
• Purdue led for nearly 27 minutes (26:45) of action Sunday while Illinois State only held a lead for 7:14 as their biggest lead stood at four in the first quarter. 
• The Redbirds would shoot 29 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from the three-point line Sunday. Purdue shot 51 percent from the field and 28 percent from three Sunday. 

UP NEXT
Illinois State is back home for their final non-conference action of 2022-23 when they host the Horizon League's Green Bay next Sunday, Dec. 18 inside CEFCU Arena. The Redbirds and Phoenix will tip off at 2:00 p.m. CT on the 18^th.

For all latest on Illinois State women's basketball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team at @RedbirdWBB (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).

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