WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women’s basketball team dominated on both ends of the floor in a 75-56 win over Minnesota on Saturday afternoon at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers improved to 13-6 on the year and 4-5 in Big Ten play.
The Purdue put four players in double figures led by Cassidy Hardin’s 14 points. The fifth-year senior knocked down a quartet of
Purdue’s 10 triples on the afternoon. Jayla Smith used a mix of inside and outside shooting to score 13 points, while Lasha Petree totaled 12 with a trio of 3-pointers. Rickie Woltman finished two rebounds shy of a double-double as she tallied 10 points off the bench in 23 minutes of action.
The Boilermakers took care of the ball offensively with 21 assists on 30 made field goals. Jeanae Terry notched her 10th game this season with five points, five assists and five rebounds, as she tallied eight points, seven boards and eight dimes. Petree and Abbey Ellis both dished out a trio of helpers. Purdue also cut its turnovers down to eight, its lowest since the win at Texas A&M.
Purdue shot 45.5% from the field for its 15th game with a shooting clip of 40% or better and went 10-of-30 from behind the arc.
On defense, the Boilermakers held Minnesota (9-11, 2-7) to just 27.5% shooting, the lowest mark by an opponent since Nov. 14, 2019, at Chattanooga. Purdue flipped 13 Golden Gopher giveaways into 20 points.
Minnesota entered Saturday’s game averaging 37.6 points in the paint per game. Purdue trimmed that number to a season-low 20 for the Golden Gophers, by holding dominant post player Alanna Micheaux to just two points.
Neither side found its shooting touch early with both clubs combining to shoot 4-for-17 over the opening five minutes. Petree connected on a pair of early triples for the Boilermakers. Following a 3-pointer by Minnesota to tie the game at 8-8, Purdue rolled off nine straight points, carrying a seven-point lead into the second.
The Golden Gophers trimmed the gap down to three early in the second before Madison Layden sank a triple. It was all Purdue to the end of the half, finishing the final 7:33 of the period on a 19-5 run. Woltman started the run with five straight points, before a Petree layup. Hardin connected on back-to-back triples as Purdue finished with seven 3-pointers over the opening 20 minutes.
Minnesota clawed its way back in the early stages of the third on a 13-4 run. Harper ended the run with a tough layup through contact with 5:42 to play. Purdue held the Golden Gophers to just two made field goals over the final five minutes of the third. Woltman and Smith scored Purdue’s final six points of the frame to give Purdue a 56-43 lead after 30 minutes.
In the fourth, Minnesota again chipped the deficit down to single digits midway through the quarter, but the fifth-year-senior duo of Hardin and Petree hit from outside on back-to-back trips down the floor to push the gap to 15 points. Purdue shot 8-of-14 and hit a trio of triples, while keeping Minnesota to just 4-of-19 from the floor in the final period to seal the win.
NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series 48-23.
• The crowd of 5,003 was Purdue’s third-largest attendance of the Katie Gearlds era.
• Minnesota won the rebounding battle 45-41, but Purdue only surrendered 11 second chance points on 17 offensive boards.
• Purdue is now 11-2 when the bench scores 20 points or more with 29 points from the second unit on Saturday.
• Terry posted her 13th this season with at least five rebounds and five assists.
• Purdue is now 11-0 when keeping an opponent to 70 points or less.
• The Boilermakers drilled 10 or more triples for the third time this season.
UP NEXT
Purdue will venture back out on the road to face No. 21/23 Illinois on Thursday night in Champaign. The 8 p.m. (ET) tip will be streamed on B1G+.