Jan. 17, 2010
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The University of Iowa women’s basketball team gained valuable experience but couldn’t steal a win on the road Sunday, falling at Purdue, 81-59, in Mackey Arena.
The Hawkeyes (8-10 overall, 1-6 Big Ten Conference) turned the ball over 19 times and the host Boilermakers (9-9, 4-3) turned those into 22 points.
Purdue opened the game with a 5-0 run and never trailed.
“Their man-to-man defense was effective and it shook us a little bit to begin with,” UI head coach Lisa Bluder said. “They took it out on us today with a more aggressive defense than we’ve seen from them.”
In a game when the Hawkeyes shot 37.7 percent from the field (20 of 53), Iowa junior Kachine Alexander converted 7 of 12 from the floor and finished with 18 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Kelly Krei scored 13 points and made all five of her free throw attempts. Freshman Morgan Johnson pulled down 10 of Iowa’s 30 rebounds and scored six points. Freshmen Trisha Nesbitt and Gabby Machado were both 2 of 4 from the field and 3 of 2 from the line for six points.
“Kachine played a nice game offensively,” Bluder said. “Ten rebounds is great to see from Morgan.”
Purdue’s Brittany Rayburn led all players with 28 points. The Boilermakers also won the battle of bench points, 26-14.
Despite falling behind by 30 points twice in the second half, Iowa continued to compete until the final horn. Purdue outscored the Hawkeyes by just one point, 37-36, over the final 20 minutes.
“We kept battling and didn’t hang our heads and that was good to see,” Bluder said. “We played a lot better in the second half.”
Walk-on freshman Megan Considine, who joined the team in early January, played six minutes and scored the first two points of her career (2 of 2 free throws) with an assist.
The Hawkeyes will seek their first conference road victory in five tries Thursday, Jan. 21, at Illinois. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“Illinois is a much better team this year than they were last year,” Bluder said. “They have a very talented young group with some really good players. We’ll have to be ready for their athleticism.”