Hawkeyes bounce back, drop Purdue

IOWA CITY - A four-game, 3-point bonanza ended Sunday afternoon for Melissa Dixon.

But she found other ways to score. And the Iowa Hawkeyes found other ways to win.

No. 17 Iowa bounced back from a disappointing loss three days earlier, punching in for a workmanlike 73-59 Big Ten women's basketball victory over Purdue in front of 7,359 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

'We know how to win with 3-point shooting,” said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder. 'It was nice to win with something else - free throws and defense.”

The Hawkeyes (12-3 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) hit 17 of 19 foul shots and held Whitney Bays - Purdue's leading scorer - to 3-of-14 shooting. And Dixon, who had drained 29 treys in the previous four games, shifted her attack inside the arc.

'They were overplaying me, and (the coaches) set up some nice plays for me on backdoor cuts,” said Dixon, who led all scorers with 18 points despite just two 3-pointers.

Ally Disterhoft added 17 points and Bethany Doolittle - coming off a rough outing in Thursday's loss at Illinois - tallied 15.

'The coaches were on me, getting me to bounce back,” Doolittle said. 'I was trying to change my mindset. The coaches have faith in me.”

Bluder said, 'When things are going well, it's easy to stay positive. Bethany showed character, coming off a tough game.”

The game was back-and-forth through the first 13 minutes, then Iowa closed the first half with a 12-4 run for a 37-27 lead at intermission.

Neither team assembled much of a run in the second half, with Iowa's advantage wavering between six and 12 points until the very end.

Purdue (9-7, 2-3) drew within 44-38 on Ashley Morrissette's basket with 15:51 left, then Iowa scored the next five points. Dixon took a feed from Samantha Logic and converted a traditional three-point play to make it 49-38.

'She got one the old-fashioned way,” Bluder said. 'We should celebrate that.”

After that, the Boilermakers got within eight points on five occasions. Each time, the Hawkeyes answered. As a result, they improved to 12-0 this season in games in which they scored more than 70 points, and 8-0 at home.

Morrissette paced Purdue with 15 points. Bays, averaging a double-double this season, got another one with 13 points and 11 rebounds, but had to work for it.

Iowa moved into a three-way tie for second-place in the Big Ten, one game behind Maryland. The Hawkeyes host Northwestern (13-2, 3-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

IOWA 73, PURDUE 59

At Iowa City

PURDUE (59): Liza Clemons 3-6 4-6 10, Whitney Bays 3-14 7-9 13, Ashley Morrissette 7-17 0-0 15, Andreona Keys 2-5 4-4 9, April Wilson 1-7 0-0 3, Torrie Thornton 1-2 0-0 2, Hayden Hamby 1-4 0-0 2, Bree Horrocks 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 20-58 15-19 59.

IOWA (73): Bethany Doolittle 6-10 3-4 15, Ally Disterhoft 5-10 6-6 17, Whitney Jennings 2-7 4-4 8, Melissa Dixon 7-14 2-2 18, Samantha Logic 3-9 0-0 6, Alexa Kastanek 0-3 0-1 0, Claire Till 1-3 0-0 2, Chase Coley 0-0 0-0 0, Christina Buttenham 1-1 0-0 2, Kali Peschel 1-4 2-2 5. Totals 26-61 17-19 73.

Halftime: Iowa 37, Purdue 27. 3-point goals: Purdue 4-16 (Morrissette 1-9, Keys 1-1, Wilson 1-3, Hamby 1-3), Iowa 4-18 (Disterhoft 1-2, Jennings 0-3, Dixon 2-7, Logic 0-2, Kastanek 0-1, Peschel 1-3). Team fouls: Purdue 20, Iowa 17. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Purdue 44 (Bays 11), Iowa 34 (Disterhoft, Logic, Peschel 5). Assists: Purdue 10 (Morrissette, Keys 2), Iowa 17 (Logic 8). Steals: Purdue 5 )Morrissette, Keys 2), Iowa 11 (Dixon 3). Turnovers: Purdue 18, Iowa 9.

Attendance: 7,359.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com