Jada Buggs netted a career-best 26 points and Patrice McBee added 20 points but it wasn’t enough to overcome a halftime deficit, as the No. 10 Purdue University Calumet women’s basketball team fell on the road Saturday, 88-75, to No. 19 Huntington University.
The Peregrines (4-1) sustained their first loss of the season to the Foresters (4-1), who held a 45-33 advantage at the half and made the most damage at the foul line, making 33 of 37 (89.2 percent) shots compared to a 10 of 15 (66.7 percent) showing for Purdue Calumet.
Buggs (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart) made 12 of 18 shots from the field and added six rebounds and three assists, while McBee (Monterey, Ind./Culver Community) was a stellar 10 of 13 from the field, recording five boards.
Senior Kami Graber (Nashville, Ind./Brown County) added nine points and Cassidy Deno (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central) had eight points for the Peregrines, whose last lead came at the 17:34 mark in the first half, up 6-5.
From there, the Foresters would go on a 20-10 run over the next seven minutes to take a 25-15 lead with 10:55 left in the half. A Miranda Palmer 3-pointer with 1:57 left before the break would give HU its largest lead (43-30) before heading into halftime with a 12-point advantage.
Buggs netted 17 of her 26 in the first half, as the Peregrines shot 48.4 percent (15 for 31) from the field, compared to 56.0 percent (14 of 25) for the Foresters.
Purdue Calumet came out of the break on a 6-3 run to cut the lead to seven, 48-41, behind two McBee buckets and a jumper in the paint from Buggs. Huntington would respond with a 13-6 run over the course of the next six minutes to go up 14, 61-47, with 12:07 left. A Deno triple would cut the lead to eight, 76-68, with three minutes to play, but the Foresters would make a perfect 12 of 12 shots from the free throw line in the final minutes to seal the win.
Amelia Recker (28 points), Miranda Palmer (26 points) and Kelsey Hubble (21 points) led the Foresters offense while Huntington maintained a 37-26 advantage on the glass.
For the game, Huntington shot 46.2 percent (24 of 52) compared to 56.7 percent (32 of 61) for the Peregrines, who struggled from behind the arc, making just 1 of 10 shots from downtown. HU finished 7 of 18 (38.9 percent) from 3-point land.
Purdue Calumet returns to action Wednesday, Nov. 19, when the Peregrines host Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Olivet Nazarene in the first game of the a doubleheader with the men, starting at 5 p.m. at the Fitness and Recreation Center. Wednesday will mark the men’s and women’s basketball team’s “Pack the Place” night, where student are encouraged to wear black – along with free Papa John’s pizza to the first 150 students with a valid ID.