ESTERO, Fla. - The Boilermakers are 5-0 for the ninth time in school history as the Purdue women's basketball team earned a hard-fought 62-60 victory over No. 22 Louisville to advance to the championship of the 2015 Gulf Coast Showcase at Germain Arena on Saturday. Junior Ashley Morrissette scored a season-high 17 points and classmate Bridget Perry hit a pair of game-winning free throws with 21 seconds to play to seal the victory.
Purdue will face 13th-ranked Stanford tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. for the tournament title as the Cardinal earned a 74-66 win over Dayton to advance in the other semifinal matchup. The Boilermakers last played in a regular-season tournament championship game at the 2012 Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and last won a tournament title in the 2010 WNIT.
It was a slow start for the Old Gold and Black as Purdue managed just nine points in the first quarter and 11 points in the second, as Louisville took advantage of early foul trouble for Perry and senior point guard April Wilson. The Boilermakers had 10 first-quarter turnovers and Louisville road the early scoring of sophomore Myisha Hines-Allen, who had 10 first-half points for the Cardinals. Freshman Tiara Murphy gave the Boilermakers a huge boost off the bench, canning a pair of second-quarter triples en route to a career-high six points, but Purdue went to the locker rooms trailing 28-20.
The Boilermakers came out firing in the second half, quickly closing the gap to three points, 35-32, with a 12-5 run to start the third quarter. Purdue spread the scoring around, but Morrissette put the exclamation point on the run with back-to-back buckets. Louisville stemmed the run after the Boilermakers' second technical foul of the game on the bench, and took a 42-38 lead into the fourth and final frame.
The fourth quarter was the Morrissette and Perry show as the pair combined for 19 points and scored the Boilermakers' key buckets in the comeback win. Perry's 12 points were the most by a Boilermaker in a quarter this season, and Morrissette's lefty scoop-shot with 1:03 to play gave Purdue its first lead since the 6:08 mark of the first quarter. Perry followed up with a layup and a pair of free throws down the stretch to seal up the Boilermakers' last few points, while the Purdue defense clamped down in the waning seconds to keep the Cardinals off the board and secure the win.
Morrissette finished 8-of-12 from the field, in addition to five rebounds and three assists, while Perry had 14 points in just 19 minutes due to foul trouble. Sophomore Andreona Keys had seven points, a career-high 10 rebounds and three assists, while freshman Nora Kiesler had six points and a career-high seven rebounds.
Hines-Allen led Louisville with 16 points and eight rebounds, while junior Briahanna Jackson was outstanding in the fourth quarter and finished with 13 points and three steals for the Cardinals. Louisville falls to 1-3 on the season and will play Dayton tomorrow in the third-place game at 5 p.m.
Purdue and Stanford meet for the 11th time in school history tomorrow evening as Purdue head coach Sharon Versyp chases her 200th win as the Boilermaker head coach. The game will be webcast live on YouTube.