Clemons' double-double was her fourth of the season and fifth of her career.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker in Mackey Arena on Saturday, falling to visiting Illinois, 47-46, to drop to 10-17 overall and 3-13 in Big Ten Conference play. The Boilermakers led for over 36 minutes, but the Fighting Illini went on a 9-0 run late in the game and hit the go-ahead three with just 1:16 left in regulation to escape with their first win at Purdue since 2005.
The Boilermakers got off to a solid start on Saturday, holding Illinois to just 15.8 percent from the floor (6-38) in the first half and leading by as many as 13 points in the early going. The Fighting Illini did manage to go on a 7-2 run over the final five minutes of the half and cut the deficit to 24-16 as they went to the locker rooms.
The momentum went back-and-forth in the second half as Illinois trimmed the lead to three in the opening minutes of the half, before the Boilermakers rebounded and stretched it back to 11, 39-28, with 12:44 to play. Things swung back the Fighting Illini's way as three-straight buckets took the Purdue advantage down to two, 41-39, with nine minutes left, and then a steal and score by senior Ivory Crawford tied the game at 41-41.
Purdue seemed to recover, slowing the 9-0 Illinois run and pushing its lead back to three on two different occasions on jumpers by sophomore Bridget Perry and senior Whitney Bays. However, Illinois got one-of-two free throws by sophomore Jacqui Grant to cut it to two, 46-44, with 2:28 to play and junior Kyley Simmons gave them the lead for good with a triple off a Crawford steal with just 1:16 left.
The Boilermakers had two chances to win in the final minute, but a Perry drive didn't find its mark en route to a shot clock violation, and a three-point shot by junior April Wilson was just off center. Purdue immediately fouled after the miss, and Crawford missed the front end of the one-and-one with the ball skipping out of bounds off the Fighting Illini with 5.8 seconds to play. The Boilermakers were slow to get the ball up the floor on the final possession and Wilson's last-second heave was too strong as Illinois finished the comeback victory.
Senior Liza Clemons paced the Boilermakers with 11 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and four blocked shots, while classmate Whitney Bays had nine points, five rebounds and five assists. Freshman Chatrice White led Illinois with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five steals.
Purdue plays its last road game of the regular season on Tuesday, heading to Ann Arbor, Mich., for a 7 p.m. (ET) tip-off against the Wolverines at Crisler Arena.