DETROIT — The Purdue Northwest women's basketball team fell 59-47 to Wayne State on Thursday night inside the newly-constructed Wayne State Fieldhouse.
PNW moved to 8-14 (5-10 GLIAC) after the setback. The Pride were held under 50 points in both matchups against the second-place Warriors (14-5, 10-4 GLIAC) this season.
How it happened: PNW took a 6-2 lead with early production from
Dash Shaw (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) and remained out in front with under three minutes left in the first quarter. The Warriors would respond defensively to claim a 12-8 lead after one frame, as both teams struggled to score before halftime.
Taylor Austin (Portage, Ind./Lake Station) drilled a 3-pointer to keep things at a one-possession game in the second quarter, but Wayne State broke away on a 10-0 run as the Warriors led 29-20 at the break.
Then, PNW trailed by as much as 17 in the third quarter when the Warriors went ahead 46-29 at the 2:12 mark. But a furious rally from the Pride sliced the deficit back to single digits entering the final quarter with Wayne State in front, 46-38. PNW ended the third with a 9-0 spurt, capped by a half-court buzzer beater from
Kennedy Jackson (Carson, Calif./Redondo Union).
The momentum carried into the start of the fourth as a
Mercedes Simmons (Crystal Falls, Mich./Forest Park) layup, followed by a another basket from Shaw, pulled the Pride to within four, 46-42, with 6:30 remaining. Good for a 13-0 run for the Pride. Impressively, the Pride held the Warriors scoreless for six minutes of game time between the third and fourth quarters.
However, that was as close as PNW could get after the Warriors sparked a 7-0 run to go back in front by double digits.
Shaw led the Pride with 16 points and knocked down a pair of threes. The sophomore guard has scored double digits in five straight games. Simmons was the only other player to reach double figures in the scoring column with 10 points and team-high eight rebounds. The duo helped the PNW bench outscore WSU's reserves by a 36-4 margin.
The Pride shot 32 percent overall from the floor while the Warriors made 36 percent of their field-goal attempts.
WSU's Grace George paced all scorers with 29 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 3 of 4 from range and 6 of 7 at the line. Sam Cherney added 17 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks for the hosts.
UP NEXT
PNW travels to Saginaw Valley State for Saturday's 12 p.m. CST tipoff.
FOLLOW THE PRIDE
For all the latest information on Purdue Northwest Women's Basketball, please visit PNWathletics.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Pride (@pnwathletics & @PNWWBB) on Twitter. You can also find the Pride on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
