Purdue Women’s Basketball Struggles to Score, Falls to IU
The Boilermakers had just one player in double figures Monday
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women’s basketball but together an outstanding defensive effort Monday at Mackey Arena, but couldn’t find the bottom of the bucket on the other end, falling to Indiana 52-44. The loss is Purdue’s second straight at home, dropping to 16-10 overall and 7-5 in Big Ten Conference play.
The Boilermakers held Indiana to just 13-of-43 over the first 30 minutes of action, including a 2-of-17 first quarter and 4-of-13 third quarter, leading 13-4 after the first and sitting tied 22-22 at the half. Purdue finished the opening frame on a 13-2 run, but Indiana got things going in the second, opening on a 10-0 run to take the lead and tighten things up.
Things went back-and-forth for the next 15 minutes as neither side would lead by more than two points for the next 10 minutes of play. Purdue looked to have things going early in the second half, taking a six-point lead on a 3-pointer from sophomore Dominique Oden, but Indiana countered with a 9-0 run to finish the quarter and led the rest of the way.
The lead swelled to 10 in the fourth quarter after back-to-back Hoosier buckets at the midway point, and despite a pair of triples from Purdue freshman Karissa McLaughlin down the stretch, the Boilermakers couldn’t string together enough stops to close the gap.
McLaughlin was the only Boilermaker in double figures, finishing with 14, including four 3-pointers, and moved past Courtney Moses for second on Purdue’s freshman 3-point record list with 55. She’s six shy of Oden’s freshman record of 61, set last season. Sophomore Ae’Rianna Harris put up a huge number as well, collecting a career-high 18 rebounds, the most by a Boilermaker since Whitney Bays grabbed 19 vs. Ohio State on Jan. 25, 2015. Harris just missed the double-double with eight points, but added four blocks and two assists, tying Stacey Lovelace’s 1993-94 mark of 81 for second-most in a season by a Boilermaker. Senior Andreona Keys and Oden were just shy of double figures with nine points each, while Oden added seven rebounds and Keys had six, including four on the offensive end.
Senior Amanda Cahill led Indiana, which improved to 14-12 overall (7-6 B1G) and won their sixth straight. Cahill had 16 points and 11 rebounds, while fellow senior Tyra Buss was held in check most of the game, but had seven in the fourth quarter to finish with 13.
Purdue heads out on the road the rest of the week, traveling to No. 10 Maryland on Thursday for a 6 p.m. ET tip, live on the Big Ten Network.
