Box Score NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Behind a career-high performance from senior point guard Darien Thompson (Anderson, Ind./Anderson), the No. 15 Purdue University Northwest women's basketball team held off a scrappy Holy Cross College, 82-77, Saturday on the road.
Thompson (Anderson, Ind./Anderson) poured in a career-best 35 points, aided by a perfect 17-for-17 performance at the free-throw line. PNW teammate Cassidy Deno (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central) (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central) added 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists and junior post Ellie Michalski (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) (Muwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) chipped in 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go with eight rebounds.
PNW (21-7, 16-3 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference) used a near-flawless effort at the charity stripe (25-of-28, 89.3 percent) to eke out the win late, as the Saints (9-19, 7-12) led by four, 68-64, with 3:02 to play in the game.
But Thompson would score a three-point play the old-fashioned way to answer the Saints' charge, followed by two big free throws from PNW teammate Jessica Kiser (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) that gave the Pride a one-pont lead with 2:16 to go. A clutch triple from Thompson followed, and Purdue Northwest would hit all 10 of its free throws – eight of those by Thompson – in the final 49 seconds to seal its 16th conference win.
PNW trailed, 42-41, at halftime, but used a 19-point third frame to head into the fourth quarter up, 60-52. The Pride led by as many as 10, 62-52, when Michaela Kikendall (Morristown, Ind./Morristown) hit a jumper at the 8:53 mark. But the Saints didn't go away, as HCC – fueled by three 3-pointers, two from Jessica Norris – executed a 16-2 run over the next five minutes to take that four-point lead.
PNW shot just 39.7 percent (25-of-63) for the game compared to 49.2 percent (29-of-59) for Holy Cross, and the Saints hit 12-of-30 from downtown compared to 7-of-14 for PNW.
Kiser, in a starting role for the first time this season, contributed an all-around game for the Pride, finishing with six points, four assists and a career-high 10 rebounds.
Five players scored in double-figures for Holy Cross, led by 20 points and 13 rebounds from Shana Anderson.
Purdue Northwest returns to action Wednesday, Feb. 15, when the Pride host Trinity Christian in their final regular-season home game. Game time at the James B. Dworkin Center in Westville is set for 5 p.m. CT.
