Erin Whalen leads Dayton Flyers to road victory against Purdue

Erin Whalen scored 26 points as the Dayton Flyers beat Purdue 78-62 on Saturday night in West Lafayette, Ind.

Dayton (3-1) handed Purdue (3-1) its first loss. The Boilermakers opened the season with victories over Western Kentucky, Western Michigan and Illinois State.

“I’m really proud of this team, it was a great team effort,” Dayton coach Shauna Green said in a story posted to the team’s website. “It was the best 40 minutes we have put together. We came out a little slow the first couple minutes, but then we really picked it up. I’m just really proud of the execution of our game plan. Our whole thing was really to try and take away their 3-point shot, knowing that’s what gives them energy. I thought we did an unbelievable job with that. It was a great road win. Anytime you can go on the road and get a W is huge, especially when you go in the Big Ten and against a good team like Purdue. It was an overall team effort.”

Dayton improved to 8-5 in its history against Purdue, which won the previous meeting 61-58 in 2015.

Whalen made 10 of 19 shots from the field. She fell one point short of her career high.

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Makira Cook added 18 points. Araion Bradshaw had 13 points and seven assists. Tenin Magassa led the team with 11 rebounds and four blocks.

Dayton led 12-11 after the first quarter and 33-31 at halftime. The Flyers took control in the third quarter with a 17-3 run, turning a 37-36 lead at the 7:35 mark into a 54-39 advantage with 2:44 to play. Mariah Perez scored all six of her points during the run.

Dayton returns to action at noon Thursday against Mississippi State at the Daytona Beach Invitational. It then plays Illinois in the same event in Florida at 2:15 p.m. Friday.