Purdue Women’s Basketball Suffers 73-60 Loss at No. 16 OSU
The Boilermakers fell to a ranked opponent for the first time this season
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Purdue women’s basketball team took on another ranked opponent on the road Sunday but was unable to keep its streak alive, falling at No. 16 Ohio State 73-60 at Value City Arena. The Boilermakers lost to a ranked opponent for the first time this season after beating the previous four, moving to 17-11 overall and 8-6 in conference play on the year.
The highlight of the game for the Boilermakers came late as freshman Karissa McLaughlin cracked the Purdue freshman 3-point record, tying teammate Dominique Oden’s mark of 61 with 6:44 to play in the fourth quarter and breaking the record with McLaughlin’s 62nd of the season with 3:25 left to play. The Purdue rookie hit four triples on the day en route to a team-high 17 points in her third straight complete game.
Rookie teammate Tamara Farquhar also had a solid outing, posting eight points and a career-high 13 rebounds, including six on the offensive end. She added two blocks as well in a career-most 37 minutes of action. Sophomores Dominique Oden and Ae’Rianna Harris both scored in double figures with 12 points apiece, while Oden added five rebounds and two steals and Harris had seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Purdue just couldn’t get its shooting going Sunday, hitting only 34.8 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from 3-point range. The Boilermakers’ hottest stretch came in the second quarter, getting 7-of-15 to drop, and cutting an early Ohio State lead down to 33-30 at the break. Purdue trailed by as many as 13 in the first half, but held the Buckeyes scoreless for long stretches to get back into the game, while Oden scored eight points in the second to do most of the damage.
Purdue came out of the locker room strong, using a bucket from Harris and a pair of free throws from senior Andreona Keys to take a 34-33 lead. However, the edge was short-lived as Ohio State mounted a 13-2 run in the next two and a half minutes, including six points from senior forward Stephanie Mavunga, and would never relinquish the lead again. The Boilermakers cut the lead to six on an and-one from McLaughlin late in the third, but Ohio State would rally and kept the margin at double digits for the final nine minutes of regulation.
Ohio State outscored Purdue 40-24 in the paint, 18-4 off turnovers and 15-11 on second chance points, despite Purdue hanging with the Buckeyes on the boards, 45-43. Senior Kelsey Mitchell finished with a game-high 26 points and eight rebounds, while Mavunga had a double-double with 17 points and 12 boards.
Purdue plays its final two regular season games at home this week, hosting Illinois on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET, and Michigan State on Saturday at 2 p.m. Saturday marks the final regular-season home game for Keys, who will be celebrated with a postgame ceremony after the clash with the Spartans.
