Kikendall Leads PNW Women in 120-47 Road Loss to No. 1 Ashland
Ashland, Ohio – Despite team-bests of 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists by junior Michaela Kikendall (Morristown, Ind./Morristown), the Purdue Northwest women’s basketball team fell behind 21-6 early to No. 1 ranked Ashland University (Ohio) and the host Eagles pulled away for a 120-47 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) victory Saturday afternoon at Kates Gymnasium in Ashland, Ohio. The Pride had trouble taking care of the basketball throughout the game with AU recording 39 steals, which helped lead to 50 points off turnovers for the Eagles.
Sophomore Shae Rhonehouse (Fremont, Ind./Fremont) scored 11 points for PNW, while senior Ellie Michalski (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) added 10 points and six rebounds. Purdue Northwest struggled shooting the ball as well Saturday hitting 35 percent of its field goal attempts (17-for-48), including just 28 percent (4-for-14) from three-point range. The Eagles improved to 16-0 overall and 8-0 in the GLIAC standings with the victory.
Ashland opened play with a 9-0 run in the game’s first minute and a half before Kikendall scored on a lay-up to put the Pride on the scoreboard. PNW trailed 11-4 with six minutes left in the opening quarter before AU went on another run to take a 31-8 lead into the second quarter. The Eagles continued to extend their lead in the second quarter and took a 58-20 advantage into the locker room at the half. It was more of the same in the second half as the Pride were outscored 62-27 over the remaining two quarters.
Purdue Northwest (2-12 overall/1-8 GLIAC) returns home and hosts Ferris State University (Mich.) at the Fitness & Recreation Center in Hammond, Ind. The conference game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. CT start and PNW will recognize students, faculty/staff and alumni in attendance from its College of Nursing, College of Technology, Honors College and College of Humanities, Education & Social Sciences in honor of “College Night.”