Purdue Women’s Basketball Upsets No. 10 Maryland 75-65
The Boilermakers beat a top-10 team on the road for the first time since 1990
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Purdue women’s basketball team pulled off another upset over a ranked team on the road Thursday, taking down 10th-ranked Maryland at the XFINITY Center 75-65. The win marks the Boilermakers fourth over a ranked opponent this season, their first win over a top-10 team since last season’s Big Ten Tournament and their first win over a top-10 team on the road since 1990.
The Boilermakers snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Terrapins, winning for the first time since a victory in the 1997 NCAA Tournament, and becoming the third team to beat Maryland since joining the conference in 2014-15. Purdue improved to 17-10 on the season and 8-5 in Big Ten play with the win, and added another huge victory to its NCAA Tournament resume.
Five different players scored in double figures for the Boilermakers, led senior Andreona Keys with 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Freshman Karissa McLaughlin backed her up with 15 points, five assists and a pair of steals and sophomore Ae’Rianna Harris tallied 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Freshman Tamara Farquhar played the biggest game of her freshman year to date, tying a career high with 12 points and grabbing six boards, and sophomore Dominique Oden scored 10 of her 12 points in the fourth quarter to go along with five rebounds and three assists.
Purdue shot a solid 50.9 percent from the field and 14-of-16 at the free throw line, while holding Maryland under 40 percent from the floor, including 13-of-37 in the second half with no 3-point field goals. The Boilermakers matched the Terrapins on the glass, 35-35, despite an 8.6 rebound per game advantage average on the season, and limited Maryland to just nine second chance points.
The first quarter went the Boilermakers’ way, hitting 61.5 from the field and holding a 20-17 lead over the Terrapins. Keys and Harris did the early damage with seven and six points, respectively, while the team shared the ball well with seven assists on eight made field goals. The second quarter saw the momentum swing Maryland’s way as senior Kristen Confroy hit all four of her shots for 10 of her 13 points for the game, and led the Terrapins out to a 34-29 halftime lead. Purdue hit just 3-of-11 in the quarter with four turnovers and was unable to get an offensive rebound.
Maryland pushed their lead out of the break, extending the advantage to 10 after the first five minutes, including five straight points from sophomore Stephanie Jones, but the run would stop there as Purdue came roaring back. A 6-0 run sparked by back-to-back steals from McLaughlin quickly cut the lead to four and Purdue would go on to tie the game on an offensive putback from Oden with 1:18 left in the quarter. A late and-one play for Maryland junior Eleanna Christinaki gave Maryland a 50-49 edge going to the fourth quarter, but the Boilermakers were not out of fight.
After another Maryland and-one, this time coming from sophomore Kaila Charles, and a jumper from Christinaki to counter Boilermaker buckets, McLaughlin gave the Boilermakers the lead for good with a triple to make it 56-55. Maryland tied the game on two occasions down the stretch, but Purdue came back to the table every time with triples from Oden, hit 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch and stoned the Terps for the final 2:17 of play to seal up the win.
The Boilermakers stay on the road this weekend, heading to No. 16 Ohio State on Sunday for 1 p.m. ET tip, live on ESPN2.
