Purdue offense sputters in loss to Hoosiers
After the first quarter Monday, Purdue struggled to find the basket.
And in doing so, the Boilermakers fell to Indiana, 52-44, being swept by the Hoosiers in the regular season for the first time since 1985 and suffering a potentially devastating blow to their NCAA Tournament hopes.
"For the fact that it is instate, Purdue and Indiana, there's going to be an awful lot of happy people in Bloomington tonight for being able to win this game," said IU coach Teri Moren, a former Purdue player.
The Boilermakers (16-10 overall, 7-5 in the Big Ten) had hoped to reverse an earlier outcome in Bloomington. Instead, though, they again couldn't find the basket — again — against the Hoosiers, particularly after the first 10 minutes. After hitting six of its 12 in the first quarter, Purdue went cold, making only 11 more field goals the rest of the game, combining for a 24.4-percent mark in the final 30 minutes.
“We weren’t getting the shots we usually (do),” said Ae'Rianna Harris, who hit only 3-of-10 field goal attempts for eight points but had a career-high 18 rebounds.
Purdue had moments. The Boilermakers led by six midway through the third quarter thanks to an 7-1 run to break a 22-all tie at the half, but a 12-point run over an eight-minute scoring drought put the Boilermakers behind 35-29 near the eight-minute mark of the fourth. The IU surge came after it looked as though Purdue was starting to take control. A Dominique Oden three-pointer, after she had stolen the ball in the backcourt and given it off to Karissa McLaughlin who then shuffled it back, put the Boilermakers up 29-23 at the 6:03 mark of the third.
But it was short-lived. Purdue went stone cold, missing its next 10 shots, plus two free throws, over an eight-minute span into the fourth. Indiana (14-12, 7-6) extended its lead to 10, a game-high, after back-to-back short jumpers by Kym Royster, forcing a Purdue timeout with 4:27 left.
The Hoosiers frequently doubled into the post, often by leaving Tam Farquhar — the freshman is starting for ill Lamina Cooper, who missed her second straight game — open. But the forward couldn't convert and Purdue's offense, in general, bogged down.
“They weren’t guarding a couple of our players and obviously we didn’t shoot well,” Coach Sharon Versyp said. “They just sat back so (Harris) almost always had like a double team. But she did have all layups, so 3 of 10 isn’t stellar by any means but they were trying to double team down low. And their defense was solid. They were very physical and tough."
Purdue, which shot only 29 percent, has lost two straight games at Mackey Arena, hampering efforts to get into the NCAA Tournament. And Monday's loss was the second in a row to IU, which hadn't happened since 1997.
The Boilermakers will have to try to recover with a tough road trip upcoming, with Thursday's game at Maryland and Sunday at Ohio State.
“Keep fighting,” senior Andreona Keys said of her message to her teammates.. “The season isn’t over. Anything can happen, so you can’t let these games get us down after we lose and lose again. Keep fighting, that’s all you can do.”
McLaughlin scored a team-high 14, the only Boilermaker in double-figures, on 5-of-12 shooting. Keys and Oden added nine each but on a combined 7-of-25. Harris' 18 rebounds are the most since Whitney Bays had the same in 2015.
IU hit nearly 38 percent of its field goals and had only eight turnovers. The Hoosiers were led by Amanda Cahill's 16 points and 11 rebounds. Point guard Tyra Buss had only 13, none in th first half.
“I think we had her rattled,” Versyp said. “She was 3 of 14, so I think we still did a good job. ... We really got her off balance. But our defense was great. You have a team (near) 50, that’s great. You hope you can score more than that.”
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