The Purdue women’s basketball team bounced back from a double overtime loss to Green Bay on Wednesday with a convincing 66-48 win over Toledo today at Mackey Arena.
The 24th-ranked Boilermakers opened up a 14-point lead in the first half, thanks largely to 10 points from junior guard Hayden Hamby.
Head coach Sharon Versyp says the Boilers’ defense set the tone in the first half.
“That was a big key to our success,” said Versyp. “And we actually had people score from off the bench, and we actually pushed the ball a lot better and were able to get some transition points off the turnovers.”
Versyp says there are still some areas of concern, including rebounding.
Toledo outrebounded Purdue 36-33 overall, including grabbing 19 offensive rebounds.
But the Boilermakers got more production from the bench. Eleven different players were in the lineup today, and 10 of them scored.
Versyp says there is no set lineup at this point. She says those who play hard will be on the floor and those who don’t will find themselves on the bench.
“If they didn’t push the ball, they were taken out. If they didn’t play defense, they were taken out. If the post didn’t post hard, they were taken out,” says Versyp. “There were a ton of subs nonstop, and that’s going to continue until we get disciplined enough and we trust the system and play hard all the time.”
Purdue improves to 2-1 on the season. The Boilers head to the Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam this week. They open play against Texas Tech Friday.
