After witnessing the shade of red possessing Purdue head coach Katie Gearlds’ face at halftime, an observer would have been hard-pressed to predict the word that described the Boilers’ second half: steady.

It wasn’t steady at first. Not when senior forward Reagan Bass wrested control of the affair in the half’s opening minutes with 7 points in a row.

It wasn’t steady when the Boilers finally retook their lead against lower-conference Maine midway through the third quarter, with the play starting with another veteran: fifth-year senior guard Ella Collier.

Collier blocked a 3 with her Boilers tied. Fifth-year guard Destini Lombard rebounded but missed a 3 on the other end, but the miss went long, all the way to the Purdue bench’s corner.

Then Purdue’s youth jumped into the comeback, as freshman center Kendall Puryear applied pressure, if not an arm, into the back of Maine’s rebounder, who forced an errant pass. Redshirt freshman Amiyah Reynolds scooped it up for a steal and layup, and Purdue had a lead it would not relinquish.

All told, the Boilers bested the Black Bears 60-51. Excluding the second quarter, it was 48-24.

Maine caught fire in that quarter, making 6-of-9 threes. To start the third, against fast-moving, focused Purdue defenders who were losing a game they shouldn’t have been, Maine hit another 3. Then it missed its next 13. And the Boilers held the line, steady. The margin did not come within a possession all fourth quarter.

The Black Bears spaced their offense consistently, which inverted Purdue’s size advantage in the post into a weakness until Bass took over at the center position down the strecth. With Bass in, the Boilers were switchable on defense, and suddenly unclogged on offense against a pesky Maine zone.

Purdue controlled posessions in the final 20 minutes, with six steals and seven rebounds from Lombard alone, funeling the ball to Bass once they’d gotten it. The senior scored 13 in the second half, and 20 overall.

Purdue climbed to 5-3 with the win, and will stay at home to face No. 7 Maryalnd in its Big Ten opener Saturday.