Freshman Andreona Keys had nine points and a career-high seven rebounds in her first career start.
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Purdue women's basketball team dropped its second straight road contest on Sunday, falling 73-59 at 17th-ranked Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Boilermakers shot just 25.8 percent in the second half and committed 18 turnovers in the game as they fell to 9-7 on the season and 2-3 in Big Ten Conference play.
The two squads went back-and-forth in the early going as the lead changed hands four times and the score was tied twice in the first 12 minutes. However Iowa senior Melissa Dixon canned two straight threes to give the Hawkeyes a 22-19 advantage that they'd never look back from. The Boilermakers kept it close until the four-minute mark of the half, but after the media time out the Hawkeyes opened up a 6-0 run and stretched the lead to 10, 37-27 at the half.
The Boilermakers just couldn't get things going in the second half, despite getting a few key Hawkeyes into foul trouble and holding Iowa without baskets for long stretches of time. Purdue closed to within six, 44-38, in the first four minutes of the half, but were unable to convert after key Iowa misses and turnovers and the lead returned to double-digits as the clock wore down.
Senior Whitney Bays maintained her double-double streak, extending it to seven straight games with 13 points and 11 rebounds, but shot just three-of-14 from the floor. Sophomore Ashley Morrissette led the Boilermakers with 15 points, while senior Liza Clemons was just shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Andreona Keys had her first career start in the absence of sophomore Bridget Perry, who missed Sunday's game with an injury, and finished with nine points and a career-high seven rebounds.
Iowa was led by Dixon, who finished with 18 points, while sophomore Ally Disterhoft had 17 points and senior Bethany Doolittle had 15 points. The Hawkeyes improved to 12-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play with the win.
The Boilermakers look to even their conference record up at home on Thursday, hosting Wisconsin at Mackey Arena at 7 p.m. (ET).