HAMMOND, Ind. – The Indiana Tech women's basketball team battled tough with T-No. 11 Purdue University Calumet through four quarters, but fell in its season opener on Tuesday evening, 69-64.
Tech jumped out to a 15-10 lead after the first quarter of action thanks to strong post play of senior
Taylor Carver and freshman
Kendall Knapke, who combined for 10 of the Warriors first quarter points. The duo would also show their range from behind they three point line as each knocked down triple. Tech would push its lead to as many as 10 in the second quarter and headed into halftime with a 32-25 lead.
The Peregrines however, would not go down without a fight as they went on 10-0 run to close out the third quarter behind the play of Cassidy Deno, who would score seven straight points for the hosts.
Purdue Calumet would push its lead to as many as 11 with just over six minutes left in the game, but the Orange and Black would go on a 17-5 run, with
Haley Cook scoring the final seven points in a row, to tie the game at 62 with two and a half minutes to go.
Deno would respond with a three pointer at the other end to give the hosts the lead back and a Peregrines layup would push the lead back to five with just under two minutes remaining. Carver would bring the Warriors to within three with a minute and a half to go, but that's as close as the visitors would get.
Taylor Seiss had a chance to tie it up with 45 seconds to go, but her three point attempt rimmed out.
After a charge by Deno gave Tech the ball back with 13 seconds left, head coach
Jessie Biggs took a timeout to take advantage of the new rules that allow teams to advance the ball into the front court in the final minute of the game. The Warriors were unable to get a shot off however, as Carver was called for a travel and Purdue Calumet was able to sink both free throws and ice the game.
Knapke led all scorers with 17 points while Carver added 13 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Senior point guard
Rayana Villalpando also recorded double-digit points with 12 and dished out a game-high five assists. The Warriors shot 43.4% from the field, but struggled from behind the arc (17.4%) and at the charity stripe (52.6%).
Tech (0-1) returns to the court on Friday when they make the trek south to Upland and battle Taylor University. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and links to live video, audio and stats will be available at IndianaTechWarriors.com.
