INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – A career-high 15 points from Mila Reynolds and two 20-point quarters in middle periods guided the Purdue women’s basketball team to a 62-51 win over Butler on Monday night in the second round of the WNIT.
The win marked the 50th for head coach Katie Gearlds back at her alma mater.
Reynolds entered the night with just three career made 3-poitners. On Monday, the South Bend native connected four times from the outside on a 5-of-8 shooting night in just 17 minutes of action.
Jayla Smith reached double figures for the first time since November with 11 points to go with five rebounds and a steal over 20 minutes on the floor. Abbey Ellis tallied 10 points for her ninth straight game in double figures.
With her second rebound of the night in the first quarter, Jeanae Terry crossed the 1,000-rebound mark for her career. She became the first player in the history of Big Ten men’s or women’s basketball to record 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 700 assists in a career.
Terry posted her typical stat line of four points, 12 rebounds, five assists, four steals and one block. The Detroit native passed herself for second in Purdue’s single-season assists with 192 on the year.
The Boilermakers shot 46.6% from the field and went 6-of-15 from distance. A trio of Boilermakers finished with four or more assists, topped by Terry’s five. Mary Ashley Stevenson set a career high with four times as she finished with eight points and four rebounds.
Terry gave Purdue an early start with four points in the first quarter. Both sides traded blows in the opening 10 minutes with five different Boilermakers scoring. Butler held a 13-11 lead after the first.
After back-to-back baskets from Stevenson and Smith to start the second, Butler (15-17) built up a seven-point gap with 3:56 to play in the opening half. Reynolds connected twice from behind the arc to start a 12-2 run to close the half. Sophie Swanson tallied the Boilermakers’ final four points to give Purdue a 31-28 lead at the break.
Two minutes into the third after Butler leveled the score at 33-33, Purdue rolled off 10 straight points. Stevenson bookended the run with a pair of contested layups to give Purdue a 10-point lead with 5:37 to play. Purdue made four of its six 3-point attempts in the third with a pair from Reynolds to give the Boilermakers a 51-39 lead with 10 minutes to play.
Alaina Harper finished inside to start the fourth to open a 14-point gap. Butler responded with a 12-2 run that cut the gap down to four points with 4:52 to play, before Ellis sank a floater in the lane. The Boilermakers closed the game out on a seven-point swing. The Boilermakers held Butler to 0-of-5 from the field to close the game and forced five turnovers in the final period.
NOTES
• The Boilermakers lead the all-time series with Butler 7-0.
• Purdue outscored Butler 40-30 in the paint.
• Four Boilermakers combined for six blocks, topped by Sophie Swanson’s career-high two.
• Terry posted her sixth straight game in double-figure rebounding, the longest stretch since Whitney Bays in 2014-15.
• Purdue dropped 20 points in the second and third quarters.
• The Boilermakers are 9-2 this season when holding an opponent to 60 or fewer points.
UP NEXT
Purdue will host Duquesne in the Super 16 of the WNIT on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Ticket information will be available on Tuesday.