#15 PNW Tops ONU in OT, 131-126
After trailing by double-digits in the first quarter, the No. 15 Purdue University Northwest women’s basketball team fought back and earned a 131-126 overtime victory over (RV) Olivet Nazarene in the opening round of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference post-season tournament.
PNW returns to action Saturday, Feb. 25, in Chicago, Ill. when the Pride take on the No. 2 seeded Saint Xavier University, who defeated the No. 7 Trinity Christian Trolls in the opening round. Game time is to be determined.
The Black and Gold defeated the Tigers in all three appearances this season, with tonight’s point total being the most points scored in program history, since the 2014-15 season when PNW scored 122 points in a victory over ONU.
After missing a couple games due to injury, Freshman Shae Rhonehouse (Fremont, Ind./Fremont) led the Pride’s offense with a career-high 36 points including a career-best three trifectas while Michaela Kikendall (Morristown, Ind./Morristown) came up with a huge performance off the bench, scoring a career-best 29 points on 12-of-15 shooting.
Senior guard Darien Thompson (Anderson, Ind./Anderson) used her speed to blow by the Tiger’s press and score 28 points while Cassidy Deno (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central) had a big second half, finishing with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Katie Wampler (Scottsburg, Ind./Scottsburg) and Jessica Kiser (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) both scored eight points, with Wampler bringing down 12 rebounds and Kiser grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists.
ONU would take a 17-0 lead to begin the contest, and followed up with taking their biggest lead of the game, 35-12 with 2:25 left in the opening period.
The Pride would refuse to give up, gaining momentum at the end of the second period to cut their deficit to six, 53-47, before trailing 55-47 heading in to the break.
With the Tigers leading for the majority of the third quarter, the Black and Gold struck fire in the final two minutes, going on a 13-0 run to push the Pride ahead of ONU, 86-80.
A pair of free throws from Kikendall jumped the Pride ahead seven points, 99-92, with 6:00 minutes left in the fourth, but the Tigers jumped back to get within four, 112-108 with 2:03 left.
PNW led by three points with 12 seconds remaining, but ONU’s Trinity Davis hit a clutch three-pointer with five seconds left and sent the game to overtime.
Both teams answered each other in the overtime period, but some clutch free throw shooting from Rhonehouse and Kikendall helped propel the Pride past the Tigers for the 131-126 comeback victory.
PNW outrebounded the Tigers, 54-52, and shot 46.7 percent from beyond the arc, compared to just 25 percent from ONU.
The Black and Gold used a large amount of fast break layups to give them 84 points in the paint, compared to 66 from the Tigers.
Purdue Northwest Senior Katie Wampler Balances Both Basketball, Nursing The Purdue University Northwest senior from Scottsburg, Ind., will graduate this spring after a stellar career on the court, but for Wampler, she’s proven she can complete one of the most difficult degree programs on campus: nursing.
“Nursing school is unlike any other type of school because you’re eating, living and sleeping it,” said Janice Tazbir, Professor of Nursing and Program Coordinator for Undergraduate Programs.
“It takes an incredible amount of intelligence, it takes an incredible amount of compassion, and just an incredible amount of work.”
Wampler carries a 3.49 cumulative grade point average in a highly-competitive nursing program that has just eight PNW student-athletes enrolled. On the basketball floor, she has started every game this season with a 9.1 point, 5.4 rebound per game average and will most likely wrap up her career as third-best all-time in field-goal percentage.
“Being an athlete my entire life, I’ve always had to juggle basketball and school…,” Wampler said. “…in nursing, it’s very important that you know what you’re doing so you don’t hurt anyone when you practice, so it’s been a juggling act.”
“…I just can’t stand failure and I don’t want to let anyone down — I just want to do the best I can do in whatever I do."
The Pride (23-7), ranked 15th in the nation in the latest NAIA Division II Coaches’ Poll, host Olivet Nazarene in the opening round of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 5 p.m. CT at Hammond’s Fitness & Recreation Center and the team is in prime position to qualify for its fourth NAIA National Tournament in five seasons.
To learn more, watch the full-length video on Katie Wampler and how she balances both basketball and her studies here: https://youtu.be/Z8kjNUttH6I
Men's Basketball Falls to TIU in CCAC Quarterfinals The Purdue University Northwest men’s basketball team saw its season come to an end Tuesday night, after Trinity International defeated PNW 102-72. in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference quarterfinals at TIU’s Van Dixhorn Arena.
Purdue Northwest was led by junior guard Caleb Brannon (Lebanon, Ind./Lebanon), who was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field with 12 points and four rebounds while Lukas Vilkovsky (Kosice, Slovakia/Get Better Academy) chipped in with 11 points.
Senior guard Mike Williams (Gary, Ind./Lew Wallace) scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting to round out the double-figure scorers for the Pride.
The Black and Gold started the game off with a 6-3 lead, but the Trojans would answer to take back the lead, 13-8, with 12:58 left in the half.
TIU would go on a huge run and take a 37-8 advantage, before going up 57-30 heading in to the break.
Trinity International kept its composure for the rest of the contest, defeating the Pride, 102-72.
Jeremy Carlyle led the five scorers in double-figures for the Trojans with 16 points on four trifectas while Greg Carlyle chipped in with 13 points.
Purdue Northwest wrapped up its first ever season with a 13-17 record, while winning 11 games in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Purdue Northwest Claims 3-Seed in CCAC Tourney; Hosts Olivet Nazarene Wednesday The No. 15 Purdue University Northwest women’s basketball team will host (RV) Olivet Nazarene in the opening round of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament Wednesday night in Hammond.
The No. 3 seed Pride (23-7, 18-3 CCAC) will take on the No. 6 seed Tigers (20-10, 14-7 CCAC) beginning at 5:00 p.m. CT at the Fitness and Recreation Center in Hammond, Ind.
Should PNW win Wednesday, the Pride would advance to Saturday's semifinal to take on the winner of 7-seed Trinity Christian (16-14) and 2-seed St. Xavier (27-2), which will be played Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Chicago. Saturday's game will take place at the site of the higher seeded team.
