Purdue University Northwest Sports Update, December 28, 2016

PNW-No-14-Purdue-Northwest-Tops-St-Thomas-82-74No. 14 Purdue Northwest Tops St. Thomas, 82-74 Three players scored 20 or more points to lead the No. 14 Purdue University Northwest women’s basketball team to a 82-74 nonleague win over host St. Thomas University Tuesday.

The Pride (13-3) return to action in the two-day Miami-Doral Hotels Classic Wednesday, when PNW takes on the No. 6 team in NAIA Division II, Campellsville (Ky.). Tip-off at STU’s Fernandez Family Center is set for 5 p.m. CT.

Live stats and video are available for Wednesday’s game at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/stu/

Senior Darien Thompson (Anderson, Ind./Anderson) led the way with 25 points – including 12-of-13 from the free-throw line – and freshman Shae Rhonehouse had 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and a perfect 6 for 6 from the charity stripe.

Fellow PNW senior Cassidy Deno (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central) added 20 points and five assists and junior forward Ellie Michalski (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) was the game leader on the boards, corralling just one shy of her career high, with 17.

PNW led the Cougars (3-6) by a 31-20 margin after one quarter and held a 50-33 lead at the break, thanks to 16 first-half points from Deno, who drained three triples in the first 20 minutes – and Rhonehouse, who had 15 of her 21 in the first half.

Purdue Northwest scored 22 points off 13 Cougar turnovers, though STU forced the Pride into a game-high 23 turnovers. PNW led on the boards, 37-27, and shot 52.2 percent (24-of-46) from the field compared to 43.9 percent (29-of-66) for STU.

PNW, NAIA Division II’s leader in free-throw percentage, continued to dominate at the charity stripe, making 29-of-31 (93.5 percent) compared to 9-of-10 for the Cougars.

Supavadee Kunchuan led ST. Thomas with 31 points and teammate Katie Rienas added 13 points for the Cougars in the loss.

After Wednesday’s contest, PNW returns to Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play with a road matchup at No. 1 St. Francis (Ill.) Jan. 3 in Joliet, Ill.