No. 13 Purdue Quells Northwestern, 80-70, Thursday Night

1/26/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Jan. 26, 2012

Box Score

Site: Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)
Score: Purdue 80, Northwestern 70
Records: NU (12-9, 2-6 Big Ten), Purdue (18-3, 8-0 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Sunday, Jan. 29 -- vs. Indiana (Evanston, Ill.) 2 p.m. CT

EVANSTON, Ill.-- Led by a double-double effort by junior Dannielle Diamant (21 points, 10 rebounds), Northwestern did all it could to hand Big Ten-leading Purdue its first conference loss of the season. But the 13th-ranked Boilermakers held off a late Wildcat run to win an 80-70 outcome Thursday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

For Diamant, it marked her third double-double of the year and left her just two points shy of her single-game career high.

"It was a hard-fought game," said NU head coach Joe McKeown. "We had a chance to get it down to four in the last minute, Purdue just made a couple more plays than us. They're a terrific team, you see why they're ranked in the top 20 and undefeated in the Big Ten. I'm proud of our effort."

Northwestern junior Kendall Hackney reached the 1,000-point plateau for her career in the loss, hitting the milestone on a turnaround jumper just over three minutes into the game. Hackney and freshman Morgan Jones each contributed 13 points to support Diamant's strong performance.

The game took a fast and furious pace from tip with both teams combining to shoot nearly 50 percent from the field (16-of-34) en route to 36 total points through the first 10 minutes. Northwestern found itself up 26-22 thanks to a pair of free throws from Morgan Jones at the 7:16 mark, but an 8-1 swing by Purdue gave the visitors a five-point edge just three minutes later.

The Boilermakers remained hot from there, closing the first half on a 7-0 run -- capped off by a clutch three-pointer by Courtney Moses at the buzzer -- to take a 43-33 lead into the break.

Eight Wildcats found the scoring column in the opening 20 minutes and Northwestern connected on 46 percent of its attempts before the intermission. Contributing to the Wildcat cause was junior Kate Popovec, who scored on her first career touch as an NU player.

A jumper by freshman point guard Karly Roser cut into the Boilermaker lead, pulling NU to within seven just three minutes into the second half. In fact, Northwestern whittled the lead down to single digits on several occasions, eventually making it a two-possession affair with 12 minutes remaining.

Later, a triple from Diamant marked 11 straight points from her over a seven-minute stretch, and once again pulled NU to within seven, 58-51, with 10 minutes to play. But a stifling Purdue defense then kept the Wildcats without a basket until a lay-in by Allison Mocchi at the three-minute mark, which set the tally at 66-55.

An and-1 from Hackney on the following possession made it an eight-point game. Almost a minute later, two Purdue free throws set the difference once again at 10. Four free throws from the Wildcats -- two courtesy of a technical foul -- and a 15-footer by Hackney made it a six-point game, 70-64, with 1:28 remaining.

Purdue hit 12-of-12 from the charity stripe to keep the 'Cats at bay, however, and left Evanston still unbeaten in the Big Ten at 8-0. The Boilers were aided by a stellar 29-point effort by Courtney Moses, who hit three 3-pointers and was 14-of-14 at the free throw line.

Northwestern resumes action at 2 p.m. Sunday when it hosts Indiana with a chance to sweep the season series against the Hoosiers.

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