Leigha Brown scored nine of the No. 17 Michigan Wolverines’ 23 points in the first quarter and Emily Kiser scored 10 of its 16 points in the second before balanced scoring in the third and fourth led the team to an 80-59 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers Tuesday night at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Brown finished with a game-high 21 points, four assists and two blocks, while Kiser recorded 17 points and seven rebounds and Laila Phelia managed 17 points as well. Kiser was 7-of-10 from the field; Brown was 7-of-13 (2-of-4 from three).
Brown was a solid 5-of-6 at the charity stripe, where Michigan was 17-of-20 as a team to gain a significant advantage over Purdue, which was 8-of-10. The Wolverines also won rebounds 33-20, offensive boards 11-5 and second-chance points 20-6.
Michigan (14-3, 4-2 Big Ten) was up just four at halftime, but back-to-back threes from Brown and Jordan Hobbs extended its lead to 49-37 three minutes and 22 seconds into the third. Phelia free throws pushed the lead to 14 and a Maddie Nolan three got it to 16, which is how much Michigan led by entering the fourth.
In the fourth, another Nolan three raised the lead to 17 before two more Phelia free throws brought it to 19. Brown followed those free throws with a 3-point play that made it…
