Purdue slips late in loss at Rutgers

Purdue had a chance Thursday afternoon, looking for an upset win at Rutgers that might have set a tone for the rest of the Big Ten season.

But a couple empty possessions late, when the Boilermakers could have taken a lead, opened a window for the hosts. And the Scarlet Knights took advantage, handing Purdue (9-6 overall, 0-1 in the Big Ten) a loss in the conference opener.

"Pleased with our defensive effort," associate head coach Nadine Morgan said in the post-game radio interview following the 58-50 loss. "It was a battle of turnovers early — we were equal there, especially early — but we need to capitalize offensively, especially down the stretch. We had a couple gimmes that we missed that hurt us. We could have went up four with those two layups. We've got to finish, but it's a great lesson for our young players."

It was tied 44-all for a three-minute stretch of the fourth quarter, when Purdue missed four consecutive shots, including a couple layups after offensive rebounds. After Tyler Scaife hit a free throw to break the stalemate, and give Rutgers (13-2, 1-0) a one-point lead, Lamina Cooper made two from the line, putting Purdue back up one.

But a 5-0 Scarlet Knights' run, three points on a drive by Scaife, proved to be too much. That marked the final of 11 lead changes (with six ties).

Purdue made only one of its eight field goal attempts in the fourth quarter and was only 18 of 54 for the game (33.3 percent) with 20 turnovers. Karissa McLaughlin and Andreona Keys scored 13 each, while Ae'Rianna Harris had six points, on only 3-of-12 shooting, with nine rebounds and a career-high tying seven blocks.

Rutgers wasn't much better offensively, shooting only 31.1 percent with 14 turnovers. The Knights made only 3 of 12 in the fourth, when the teams combined to miss their first 13 shots.

Purdue led 28-27 at the half, after Dominique Oden and McLaughlin hit a pair of three-pointers.

Scaife led Rutgers with 23 points and six rebounds.

"She's an amazing player and big-time players are going to step up when their team needs them," Morgan said. "She made some tough shots."