Purdue women’s basketball legend Shereka Wright returns to Mackey Arena
Purdue paid tribute to former player Shereka Wright. Wright faced the Boilermakers as head coach for UT Arlington on Sunday afternoon.
WEST LAFAYETTE — On an afternoon where Purdue honored one of its greatest players in history in Shereka Wright, the Boilermakers also reminded that Wright was now part of the opposition.
Purdue displayed its advantages being both the bigger team in the paint and faster in transition against UT Arlington with Wright as its head coach.
Senior Reagan Bass ignited an 8-2 first quarter run to finish with 14 points, 10 rebounds and Purdue overwhelmed UT Arlington 71-53 on Sunday afternoon in Mackey Arena.
“It was tough at first,” Purdue coach Katie Gearlds said about facing her former teammate. “I knew I was going to get emotional a little bit. Then to see her daughter Lenny out there with her and to see the tears that (Wright) was fighting back was tough. But then when the ball goes up, you become competitors. And I looked down there and said damn that’s Reek. Because still to this day, the amount of respect for her — that will never change. But when the ball goes up, it’s time to hoop.”
It was a thorough performance from Purdue as it saw continued production from Bass along with senior transfer Destini Lombard and freshmen post players Lana McCarthy and Kendall Puryear.
McCarthy erupted for 18 points including 10 points in the third quarter to put UT Arlington in the rear view mirror for good.
The New Bedford, New Hampshire native used an array of hook shots left and right that sustained Purdue in the third quarter.
“That’s kind of a shot that I started working on ever since I started refining my post skills,” McCarthy said. “I had a post coach that I started working with in the sixth grade and she really honed in on working on those hook shots. Because it’s really an unguardable shot if you can really nail it. They were doubling from the base line which was leaving the middle open. So I was able to get into that shot really easily and then finding that balance.”
Lombard scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Lombard pursued the basketball from the perimeter after UT Arlington shot 3 of 16 from the perimeter.
“I feel like when our bigs are being boxed out, it’s an opportunity for me to go in and crash,” Lombard said. “And when they are creating space, it opens the floor for me to go in and pursue the ball. Rebounds are for anybody. I just go in and pursue the basketball.”
Puryear added 10 points off the bench including eight points in the second quarter.
Purdue (4-1) stayed balance offensively with the scoring revolving around Bass, Lombard, McCarthy and Puryear.
The Boilermakers will spend Thanksgiving weekend in Fort Myers, Florida facing Middle Tennessee State on Thursday before a battle against No. 1 ranked South Carolina on Saturday.
Lombard, a former WAC Defensive Player of the Year, emphasized how her team needs to continually grow on defense. Purdue forced UT Arlington to shoot 31.1% from the floor and 18.8% from 3-point range.
“It’ll definitely have to start with our defense,” Lombard said. “Locking in, following the plans that (Gearlds) has for both of these teams.
