The Purdue Women’s basketball team jumped out to a seven-point lead twice today against Penn State at Mackey Arena.
But continued struggles with free throws and layups let the Lady Lions back into the game both times, with Penn State eventually winning 54-50.
It was the fourth straight loss for the Boilermakers and the first road win of the season for Penn State.
Purdue head coach Sharon Versyp says she liked her team’s defensive effort today, but says the offensive effort was lacking.
The Boilermakers shot a season-low 29 percent and were 11-20 from the free throw line.
“We had 10 more shots than them, we got to the foul line,” says Versyp. “You can’t shoot 50% from the foul line. And when you have wide-open looks you’re not going to make all of them, but we had the shots. The game plan was fine. We had opportunities and we just couldn’t make a shot.”
Senior forward Liza Clemons led Purdue with 12 points and 9 rebounds.
Junior guard April Wilson and freshman guard Andreona Keys each had 9 points and 3 rebounds. Senior forward Whitney Bays added 7 points and 12 rebounds.
Bays says the Boilers are still struggling to make key plays when it counts.
“We forced them into more turnovers, but we weren’t really converting off of them,” says Bays. “And, at the end, just taking care of business from start to finish. Boxing out, hitting free throws, doing the little things.”
Purdue falls to 10-13 overall, 3-9 in the Big Ten.
The Boilers host Northwestern Wednesday night at 7 at Mackey Arena.
