Purdue falls at Notre Dame 74-47

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WLFI) - For the first time since 2009 Purdue failed to make a three-point field goal and was out rebounded 56-28 as the Purdue Boilermakers fell 74-47 on Saturday afternoon to Notre Dame.

Kayla McBride scored 18 points, Natalie Achonwa had 15 points and 17 rebounds, and Skylar Diggins responded to early foul trouble and finished with 16 points for the Fighting Irish.

Courtney Moses led the Boilermakers with 13 points and Taylor Manuel added 12 points. Purdue was one of the country's best 3-point shooting teams coming into the game, but went 0-for-11 from behind the arc.

"It is very frustrating, we have a lot to work on and now it's the Big Ten season but this game as a team and what we had was totally unacceptable for us," said Courtney Moses.

Purdue opened the game by hitting just 2-of-12 from the field as the Irish cruised to an early 17-point lead. But the Boilermakers crept back into the game with a 7-0 run, then Diggins went to the bench with two fouls with 9:28 left in the first half, and the Boilermakers had their chance to make a statement.

Drey Mingo's fast-break layup off a behind-the-back pass from Moses cut Notre Dame's lead to 25-20 with 6:38 left before the half. And that's when the wheels fell off the train for the Boilermakers. Purdue didn't score a field goal the final 4:43 of the half, and the Irish built their lead back to 16 points at the half.

"For some reason when we play against Notre Dame we try to be individuals instead of trying to be a team. Why we were 11-1 coming in was that we were a good team but we weren't a great team today," said Purdue head coach Sharon Versyp. "We were a very average team and a few people did some good things. We have to get back to the basics and understand that how we practice is how we need to play. And how we practiced the last two and a half days was great. We didn't show any of that today," said Versyp.

Purdue will now turn its attention to Big Ten Conference play as the Boilermakers will take on Illinois at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday night.