WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Milwaukee women's basketball team hung in early but fell to Purdue University 68-55 on Sunday afternoon. After the Panthers held the Boilermakers to 33.3 percent shooting in the first half, Purdue connected on 66.7 percent of its shots after the break to pull away.
 
"I thought we played really hard. We had some people that really stepped up," head coach Kyle Rechlicz commented. "Tadri [Heard]played 30 minutes led us in scoring and had some really great passes. I thought she played outstanding. We also had a lot of toughness from our post players. Lizzie Odegard and Brandi Bisping really played tough basketball."
 
Purdue got it rolling early, opening the game on an 8-0 run before Brandi Bisping and Bre Cera each recorded an and-one to get Milwaukee closer. Sydney Levy followed with the Panthers' first triple of the game and with 3:49 to play in the first quarter, MKE cut its deficit to three.
 
The Boilermakers responded with a bucket and carried that into the second quarter, building an eight-point advantage before Tadri Heard stepped in. The freshman knocked down two three-pointers and forced a steal to pull Milwaukee within five.
 
After Purdue answered with a short run to pull ahead by nine, Heard again was there for a triple and later with another jumper to keep Milwaukee close. Once again, the Boilermakers responded with a layup, as the home squad led by eight at the break.
 
In the second half, Purdue could not seem to miss as it connected on 12 of 14 shots from the field and shut down any attempt at a Milwaukee comeback. Down by 12 with 5:33 in the third, Odegard found the hot hand. The senior buried a triple and followed with a layup later to cut it to eight, but the Boilermakers used an 8-2 run to take a 51-37 lead into the final quarter.
 
Purdue's hot shooting continued, building a 24-point advantage with just under five minutes to play. Brandi Bisping and Heard combined for the next 12 Milwaukee points and Odegard followed with a three-pointer, but the Panthers ran out of time, falling by 13 at Mackey Arena.
 
Heard finished with a career-high 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting including going 4-for-6 from deep. The freshman added five rebounds in 30 minutes.
 
"She [Heard] just has that motor to get downhill. People back off because of her drive but she also has a great shot," Rechlicz said. "I was glad she was hunting her shot tonight which made the defense get tighter and open the drive for her."
 
Odegard recorded the second double-double of her career as she tallied 12 points and 10 rebounds to go with a pair of assists.
 
"Lizzie is tough. She is so strong and has incredibly quick feet," Rechlicz stated. "She can play both post and perimeter defense. She did a great job of guarding their post players and I was really impressed with how she kept them out of the paint and contested when they had deep looks."
 
In her first game this season, Cera led the Panthers with six assists to go along with five points.
 
Milwaukee will stay in the Big Ten for its next contest, traveling to Minnesota for a 12:00 pm tipoff on Thursday, November 14. Live coverage links can be found on MKEPanthers.com.