WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women’s basketball team moved to 3-0 on the year with a 73-50 win over Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday night at Mackey Arena. After a slow start in the first quarter, the Boilermakers shot 48% from the field and 50% from distance over the final 30 minutes of the game.
Three Boilermakers finished in double figures, topped by Hannah Wickstrom’s game-high 19 points, narrowly missing her third straight 20-point performance. The Australian international was a perfect 8-of-8 at the line and added a triple.
Jelena Bulajić joined in double figures with her third straight outing with 14 points with a pair of 3-pointers. Taylor Henderson notched her first double-digit performance as a Boilermaker with 14 points, including a 6-of-8 mark at the line.
Purdue did its work at the charity stripe, going 23-of-29. It marked the first time the Boilermakers had made 20 or more free throws in each of their first three games of a season in more than 25 years.
Averi Aaron led the way on the glass with eight rebounds in a stuffed stat sheet of six points, two assists and three steals. Purdue bested SEMO (0-3) on the glass, 35-28.
After shooting 3-of-11 from the field and 0-of-3 from distance in the opening 10 minutes, the Boilermakers found their offensive touch with 59 points and six 3-pointers over the final 30 minutes.
DEFENSE FORCES TURNOVERS
Purdue’s defense never let SEMO find any rhythm on the offensive end. The Boilermakers forced 27 turnovers on the night to score 22 points. It was the most miscues by a Purdue opponent since IUPUI had 27 in 2013-14.
The Boilermakers recorded 18 steals, the program’s most since Dec. 12, 2010, against Murray State. Bulajić set a career high with four. Six different players recorded multiple takeaways.
It was the ninth time under head coach Katie Gearlds that Purdue kept a team to 50 points or fewer and 38-5 when keeping a team to fewer than 60. The Boilermakers are now 32-6 in the Gearlds era when scoring 20 points on turnovers.
KEY MOMENTS
• The Boilermakers worked through an early shooting slump, starting 0-of-8 from the field. Purdue kept pace by going 8-of-10 at the line in the first.
• After Averi Aaron scored the Boilermakers’ first basket of the game at the 1:56 mark of the first, Purdue made its next three shots to lead 14-11 after the first.
• The Boilermakers opened the second hitting five of their first six shots, leading to a 50% clip for the period.
• Purdue allowed just two made field goals over the final eight minutes of the first half to build a 33-21 lead at the break. The Boilermakers forced 16 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
• Out of the break, Bulajić started a 9-0 Purdue run with a 3-pointer midway through the frame. After a short SEMO run, Avery Gordon fought through contact for a layup before a Bulajić triple put Purdue ahead by 22 points heading to the fourth.
• The Redhawks put together their longest run of the game on a 12-3 swing to open the fourth, but Purdue fired back with a 14-4 run with half coming from the charity stripe.
• The Boilermakers put the game away going 10-of-14 at the line in the fourth and scoring nine points on seven SEMO turnovers.
NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series with SEMO 3-0.
• Hannah Wickstrom is now 27 points away from reaching the 1,000-point mark for her career.
• Maya Zilbershlag notched a career-high seven points in the win.
• The Boilermakers pushed the pace with 25 fastbreak points.
• Avery Gordon blocked a pair of shots, while Anjela Minja added another.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will close out their four-game homestand to start the year with a noon tip on Sunday against Samford for the first Golden Ticket Game of the year. The game will be streamed on B1G+.