The No. 10 Purdue University Calumet women’s basketball team had four players in double figures as the Peregrines cruised to a convincing 96-61 nonleague win over Wilberforce University Friday night.
Junior Patrice McBee (Monterey, Ind./Culver Community) led the way with her fifth double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and senior Kami Graber (Nashville, Ind./Brown County) put together another strong offensive performance with 17 points and three assists.
Sophomore Cassidy Deno (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central) added 14 points and three assists and junior Jada Buggs (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial) had 10 points, dished a game-best eight assists and added five boards.
The Peregrines (6-1) never trailed in the contest, starting the game on a Deno jumper en route to a 11-4 run. Purdue Calumet would push that lead to 25 at the break (48-23) fueled by a 54.3 percent shooting performance (19 of 35) from the floor and 45.5 percent (5 of 11) shooting from behind the arc.
The second half proved to be more of the same for the Peregrines, who led by as many as 45 (92-47) on a Sammy Dillman (Bedford, Ind./North Lawrence) triple with 4:46 remaining.
Purdue Calumet finished 52.1 percent (38 for 73) from the field, compared to 36.1 percent (26 for 72) for the Bulldogs, who fell to 0-7 on the season. The Peregrine bench outscored Wilberforce’s reserves 29-13, led by senior Stephanie Balon (Wanatah, Ind./South Central) with nine points and three assists.
Chanel Davis led the Bulldogs with 19 points.
The Peregrines return to action when they travel to No. 20-ranked St. Ambrose University Monday, Nov. 24, for a 6 p.m. matchup in Davenport, Iowa.
