West Lafayette, Ind. – Isabelle Bourne led four Huskers in double figures with a career-high 22 points, but Nebraska still suffered an 83-72 women’s basketball loss to Purdue at Mackey Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
Bourne, who hit 10-of-17 shots from the field including a pair of three-pointers, added seven rebounds while playing a career-high 38 minutes for the Huskers. Nebraska slipped to 3-3 overall with the setback and 1-2 in the Big Ten with its second straight road loss in the state of Indiana. Purdue improved to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the conference with the win.
Fellow sophomore Ashley Scoggin matched her career high with 16 points for the Huskers. Scoggin played an excellent floor game for the Big Red, hitting 6-of-10 shots including 2-of-4 three-pointers while adding four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Junior guard Sam Haiby matched Scoggin with 16 points, three assists and a pair of steals for Nebraska as well, while Kate Cain contributed 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Cain managed a pair of assists and two blocks.
Although Nebraska’s fifth starter, Bella Cravens, fell short of double figures in points with six, the 6-3 forward led the Big Red on the glass with 10 rebounds while adding two assists, two blocks and a steal of her own.
The five starters combined for all 72 of Nebraska’s points on the day against a hot-shooting Purdue team, which hit 47.6 percent (30-63) of its shots from the field including 45.5 percent (10-22). The Boilermakers also got 32 points off their bench, including 13 points from two-time All-Big Ten guard Karissa McLaughlin who hit 5-of-6 shots from the floor including 3-of-3 from three-point range. McLaughlin, who was making her second appearance of the season while recovering offseason ankle surgery, got her 13 points in just 13 minutes. Purdue was plus-10 during McLaughlin’s minutes on the court.
Kayana Traylor led Purdue with 21 points while adding a game-high seven assists as the only other Boilermaker in double figures. However, three Boilers – Brooke Moore, Jenelle Grant and Fatou Diagne – all had nine points for a balanced attack. Diagne also led all players with 17 rebounds in 25 minutes.
As a team, Purdue out-rebounded Nebraska 40-30, while the Huskers won the turnover battle, 12-5. Nebraska finished the game 30-of-65 (.462) from the field, but the Huskers hit just 4-of-17 threes (.235). The Huskers went 8-of-11 (.727) at the free throw line, while Purdue connected on 13-of-20 (.650).
Nebraska will enjoy several days for the holiday break before returning to action against defending Big Ten regular-season champion Northwestern. Tip-off between the Huskers and No. 16 Wildcats is set for 1 p.m. on New Year’s Eve at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
