The No. 15 Purdue University Calumet women’s basketball overcame a solid Baldwin-Wallace University team in a gritty 57-52 nonleague road win in the Peregrines first game of Wittenberg University’s Charles B. Zimmerman Classic Tuesday.
Purdue Calumet (11-3) will take on host Wittenberg (3-5) Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. CT to complete the two-day trip. The Tigers fell to Baldwin-Wallace Monday, 51-46.
The Peregrines, who were forced to make the nearly 300-mile trip Tuesday morning due to Monday’s winter storm, never trailed in the contest, but held off a Hornets rally that saw B-W (7-4) get as close as 1, 47-46, with less than four minutes to play.
Senior Jada Buggs (Elkhart, Ind./Memorial) led the Peregrines with 18 points, eight assists, and six boards, sophomore Katie Wampler (Scottsburg, Ind./Scottsburg) added 12 points, six rebounds and three steals, and senior Patrice McBee (Culver, Ind./Culver Community) had 10 points and six boards in the victory.
Purdue Calumet opened the game leading 18-10 after the first 10 minutes, thanks in part to two 3-point baskets from junior Cassidy Deno (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central) and three buckets by McBee. B-W outscored the Peregrines in the second frame, 13-9, as Purdue Calumet entered halftime up, 27-23.
The lead was just one, 45-44, heading into the fourth quarter after B-W used 12 offensive boards to score nine second chance points through the first three frames. Purdue Calumet struggled to open the fourth, as Buggs’ layup with 9:48 left marked the beginning of a six-minute scoring drought for the Peregrines.
Purdue Calumet’s defense was more dominate, however, holding the Hornets to just two points – and taking as much as a 10-point lead, 56-46, until 13 seconds remained, when Baldwin-Wallace hit back-to-back 3s to end the game. The Peregrines drained 5-of-6 free throws in the final two minutes to help seal it.
Deno added nine points and four rebounds for the Peregrines, who shot 45.7 percent (21-of-46) from the field for the game, compared to 33.9 percent (21-of-62) for the Hornets.
Purdue Calumet also benefited from the free-throw line, making 13-of-22 shots compared to 4-of-7 shooting from Baldwin-Wallace.
Hannah Fecht scored 11 points and Rachel Womeldorf added 10 points for the Hornets, who saw 16 players reach the floor.
Live video will be available for Wednesday’s game against Wittenberg here: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/wit/