Purdue women's basketball got back into the win column on Wednesday night, defending Mackey Arena and defeating Northwestern 75-60. It was a milestone victory for the Boilermakers, who notched their 250th Big Ten win at home with the triumph over the Wildcats.

The win also gives Purdue its second win in the last three games and second Big Ten victory of the season.

Purdue is fighting for its postseason hopes from this point forward. With Wednesday's victory, the Boilermakers are now tied for 14th in the conference standings as things currently stand.

The annual Big Ten Tournament takes the top 15 teams in the now 18-team Big Ten, leaving the bottom trio of schools at home. Purdue is on the cusp of sneaking into said field, but the loss on Sunday to Rutgers hurt those chances, with the Scarlet Knights also sitting at that 14th spot.

Upcoming matchups against Indiana (twice), Minnesota, and Ohio State have become even tougher, as well as a trip to Penn State, who has only one conference victory this season. Katie Gearlds and company have their work cut out for them if they want to play in Indianapolis next month.

The Wildcats got out to an early lead in Mackey Arena after a 6-0 run to give them a 10-4 advantage, looking eerily similar to Purdue's first quarter struggles throughout the season. Sophie Swanson then got the Boilermakers going with a transition triple and a steal leading to a layup. That jolt led to a 9-0 Purdue run that flipped the score in favor of the Boilermakers, 13-10.

Northwestern then went on a run of its own, outscoring the Boilermakers 9-2 over the final 3:37 of the opening frame. The late quarter push was led by forward Grace Sullivan, who scored six points in the final three minutes to guide the Wildcats to a four-point lead heading into the second quarter.

It was a game of runs over the first 20 minutes of the game, as the Boilermakers strung together stops and capitalized on the offensive end to start the second quarter. Sophie Swanson's layup got things going, followed by a Kendall Puryear free throw and another Rashunda Jones layup to take back the lead.

After Northwestern tied things up at 28-28 with 3:33 to play in the first half, the Boilermakers created some cushion late in the half. Ella Collier had a three-point play, which preceded a pair of layups from Destini Lombard and Puryear to take a 35-28 advantage. Purdue would then go scoreless over the final 2:08 of the half, as Northwestern cut the lead to four at the break.

Jones, Puryear and Swanson paced the Boilermakers on the offensive end in the first half, who shot 47% from the field as a team. The trio combined for 24 of Purdue's 35 points, with Jones leading the way with nine first half points.

Despite having more turnovers in the first half (nine to Northwestern's seven), the Boilermakers held the advantage in points off turnovers, scoring 11.

Purdue kept Northwestern's top two scorers in check in the first half, limiting Caileigh Walsh and Melannie Daley to just two points on 1-11 shooting from the field. Taylor Williams picked up the slack, however, producing ten points and eight rebounds before the break to keep the Wildcats close.

That didn't last much longer, however, as Purdue came out in the second half firing on all cylinders. Reagan Bass knocked down a jumper than kickstarted an 10-0 run by the Boilermakers, including five points from Ella Collier to extend the lead to 14 at the 6:23 mark of the third quarter.

Northwestern cut into the lead with a brief 6-0 run during a near three minute scoreless stretch for the Boilermakers, but Ella Collier's acrobatic layup in the final minute preserved an 11-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Caileigh Walsh finally found her shooting stroke to start the final frame, at the expense of Purdue, knocking down a jumper, followed by a triple to cut the Boilermaker lead to just six at the 8:35 mark.

Sophie Swanson then connected on a three and Lana McCarthy sunk two free throws to push the lead back into double-digits. Northwestern pressed, cutting the lead to nine in four different occasions, but Purdue had a swift response each time down the stretch.

The final nail in the Wildcats' coffin came via a 8-0 run between Puryear, Jones and Swanson, who combined to push the lead to 17 with under two minutes to play.

As has been the case of late, the Boilermakers' young core guided Purdue en route to a victory. The trio of Rashunda Jones, Kendall Puryear and Sophie Swanson led the way for Purdue in the win, all three tying a team-high 14 points on the day.

Puryear has now scored in double-figures in five of the last six games after doing so four times in the Boilermakers' previous 17 outings. The freshman forward was an efficient 7-9 from the field, boosting her shooting percentage to 84% (on 25 field goal attempts) over the last three games.

Jones has settled into her role in the starting lineup, having a team-high seven assists to go along with her 14 points. Jones has filled the stat sheet over her last four starts, averaging 14.3 points, 5.3 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game, while shooting north of 50% from the field.

Swanson has also found her groove of late, scoring in double-figures in a fourth consecutive game, matching her total from the rest of the season. The sophomore sharpshooter is averaging 14.8 points per game over her last four outings off the bench for the Boilermakers.

Purdue was also helped by the veteran presence of Ella Collier, who had 13 points in the win. As a team, the Boilermakers shot 49% from the field and 35% from three-point range, while staying under their season average for turnovers, having 14 on the night.