Ashley Morrissette hit all five of her three-pointers on Thursday night.
Each of them was a good shot, in rhythm and within the flow of the offense. A year ago, she might have tried to take a bunch more, some out of the offense and forced, and her efficiency might have been far less.
Then, Morrissette shot only 36 percent from the field, only 26 percent from three-point range, in averaging 11 points per game. Now, she’s averaging about the same - 11.8 - by shooting 43 percent from the floor and nearly 48 percent from beyond the arc. Equal production with far fewer empty attempts.
“I tried to learn from (last year),” Morrissette said. “I knew I wasn’t efficient last year, so I knew that was something I had to work on. So when I go in the gym and work on things, I focus specifically on how many shots I’m taking, how many am I making? That’s what really has helped me.”
Now, Morrissette’s not forcing. On Thursday, in Purdue’s win over Incarnate Word, the junior hit her fifth three at the end of the third quarter. Yet, rather than try to keep firing – and no one would have blamed her for it – she continued to work within the offense.
“I feel really good,” Morrissette said. “It’s about getting in the gym, getting better in the offseason. You do that and gain more confidence and that’s really going to help you in game-time situations.”
Morrissette’s improvement is impressive considering she was slowed up in the preseason due to her left wrist injury. She had a broken bone, although one not in need of surgery. Still, she missed time.
But her previous offseason work helped her get through it.
“She’s more efficient with her shot selection, but I also think she bought in to the weight training and bought in to being stronger,” Coach Sharon Versyp said. “She’s got a lean body and you can be weak or be strong with that body, and she was able to put 10 pounds of lean mass on, buy in to everything, so when you’re playing 25 to 30 minutes, you’re not fatigued.”
On Thursday, Purdue’s reserves totaled 54 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.
They likely won’t be able to replicate that production – the Boilermakers won’t often be up by more than 30 at the halves of many games – but Purdue still needs something from its bench.
“If people get in foul trouble then others have to step up,” Versyp said. “It just makes them more confident when they go in and they’re capable of doing a lot of different things. If they do make an impact, they will stay in. It’s not about if you’re going to get the same amount of minutes, it’s if you go in and have that confidence and shutting someone down, sharing the ball, not hurting your team, hopefully those minutes are going to grow.”
When Purdue (7-2) takes on Ball State at 2 p.m. Sunday, it’ll be facing a solid rebounding team with a solid rebounder.
The Cardinals (6-2) have a plus-8.4 rebounding edge, led by Nathalie Fontaine’s 9.5 per game. She also averages 20.9 points.
“They have one of the best rebounders we’ll go against all year,” Versyp said. “They’re a great rebounding team, the best rebounding team we’ll go against, so that’s the No. 1 key. So we have to take some things away – can’t take everything away – but take away a couple of their three-point shooters and handle our defense differently down low, so some are shooting more than others.”
Each of them was a good shot, in rhythm and within the flow of the offense. A year ago, she might have tried to take a bunch more, some out of the offense and forced, and her efficiency might have been far less.
Then, Morrissette shot only 36 percent from the field, only 26 percent from three-point range, in averaging 11 points per game. Now, she’s averaging about the same - 11.8 - by shooting 43 percent from the floor and nearly 48 percent from beyond the arc. Equal production with far fewer empty attempts.
“I tried to learn from (last year),” Morrissette said. “I knew I wasn’t efficient last year, so I knew that was something I had to work on. So when I go in the gym and work on things, I focus specifically on how many shots I’m taking, how many am I making? That’s what really has helped me.”
Now, Morrissette’s not forcing. On Thursday, in Purdue’s win over Incarnate Word, the junior hit her fifth three at the end of the third quarter. Yet, rather than try to keep firing – and no one would have blamed her for it – she continued to work within the offense.
“I feel really good,” Morrissette said. “It’s about getting in the gym, getting better in the offseason. You do that and gain more confidence and that’s really going to help you in game-time situations.”
Morrissette’s improvement is impressive considering she was slowed up in the preseason due to her left wrist injury. She had a broken bone, although one not in need of surgery. Still, she missed time.
But her previous offseason work helped her get through it.
“She’s more efficient with her shot selection, but I also think she bought in to the weight training and bought in to being stronger,” Coach Sharon Versyp said. “She’s got a lean body and you can be weak or be strong with that body, and she was able to put 10 pounds of lean mass on, buy in to everything, so when you’re playing 25 to 30 minutes, you’re not fatigued.”
They likely won’t be able to replicate that production – the Boilermakers won’t often be up by more than 30 at the halves of many games – but Purdue still needs something from its bench.
“If people get in foul trouble then others have to step up,” Versyp said. “It just makes them more confident when they go in and they’re capable of doing a lot of different things. If they do make an impact, they will stay in. It’s not about if you’re going to get the same amount of minutes, it’s if you go in and have that confidence and shutting someone down, sharing the ball, not hurting your team, hopefully those minutes are going to grow.”
The Cardinals (6-2) have a plus-8.4 rebounding edge, led by Nathalie Fontaine’s 9.5 per game. She also averages 20.9 points.
“They have one of the best rebounders we’ll go against all year,” Versyp said. “They’re a great rebounding team, the best rebounding team we’ll go against, so that’s the No. 1 key. So we have to take some things away – can’t take everything away – but take away a couple of their three-point shooters and handle our defense differently down low, so some are shooting more than others.”
