Purdue hands Illinois women second home loss

Jan 27, 2023 - 2:49 AM

CHAMPAIGN, Ill — The lid never came off the rim.

The streaking Illinois were shut down Thursday night at State Farm Center and handed only its second home loss of the season in a 62-52 defeat to Purdue.

Before this game the Illini (16-5. 6-4 Big Ten) were the fifth-best three-point shooting team in the nation. They certainly will dip nationally after going 15% from three (4-for-26).

This is Purdue’s 65th win against the Illini all-time. The Illini have only defeated Purdue (14-6, 5-5 Big Ten) on 18 occasions.

A sloppy start plagued by turnovers and missed opportunities slowed both teams down out of the gate. Purdue, even though they were not playing any better than Illinois, held the lead after one due to some poor shooting by the Illini.

Purdue in the second quarter started to find its grove behind the offensive attack of Abbey Ellis and Lasha Petree. Illinois, on the other hand, couldn’t get the lid off the rim. It wasn’t until the Illini turned on the pressure defensively that they started scoring on consecutive trips down the floor. But out of the half-court offense the Illini could not find a rhythm.

Although they shot 29% from the field (8-for-28) and 8% from three (1-for-12) Illinois miraculously went into the locker room only trailing by ten.

The shots started to fall out of the half, but not at the rate the Illini hoped.

Credit to Purdue’s defense for not allowing Illinois to get within striking distance, even when the Boilers went on scoring drought of their own in the third.

The Illini were able to catch a spark offensively midway in the forth, but Purdue was able to weather the storm.

Purdue hands Illinois its lowest point-total of the season, as the Illini suffer their second home loss (vs. IU last week).

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS

Great find by Genesis Bryant gives Kendall Bostic a easy two.

Brynn Shoup-Hill with the tough effort.

Makira Cook with the nice move to get to the bucket.

NEXT UP

Michigan State will be paying the Illini a visit at the State Farm Center on Sunday.

5 p.m. CT tipoff on BTN.

#OneWay