Second half surge not enough as Purdue falls to Michigan State 68-59
Purdue's struggles with Michigan State in West Lafayette continued on Wednesday night as the Boilermakers dropped their fourth straight to the Spartans in Mackey Arena, 68-59. Wednesday also marked back-to-back defeats for Katie Gearlds and company after having won two of three earlier in the month.
The Boilermakers' frustrating campaign continues, falling to 11-15 on the season overall and 4-11 in Big Ten play. Michigan State on the other hand won its second straight game and completed a season sweep of the Boilermakers. The Spartans improved to 19-7 overall and 9-6 in conference play.
Purdue got off to a solid start in the rematch against Michigan State, jumping out to an early 6-3 lead while holding the Spartans to just 1-7 shooting to start the game. That defensive showing did not give the Boilermakers much of an edge, however, as they shot 3-10 to start the night and just 4-16 in the opening frame.
Michigan State took advantage of Purdue's cold stretch, going on an extended 7-0 run across a three minute span behind a well-rounded attack. Sophie Swanson snapped a five minute scoring drought for Purdue, knocking down the Boilermakers first triple of the contest.
That momentum was brief though as the Spartans scored the last four points of the quarter en route to a 13-3 run over nearly five minutes and took a 16-9 lead into the second quarter. Moira Joiner and Julia Ayrault were the driving forces behind the strong close to the quarter, combining for nine points on 4-6 shooting from the field.
The aforementioned Swanson looked to be taking over to start the second quarter, knocking down a pair of threes in less than two minutes. The freshman guard had a game-high 11 points, which was one off a career-high in nine minutes of game action.
Despite a charge from Swanson, Michigan State's bench duo of Theryn Hallock and Tory Ozmet got going in the quarter to fend off the Boilermakers. The pair combined for the first 13 points of the quarter.
In the final 90 seconds of the half, Ayrault and Joiner went on a 6-0 run on their own to give the Spartans a 14 point halftime lead, 35-21.
Just three Boilermakers scored in the first half, which saw them shoot less than 30% from the field. Swanson paced the group with 11 while Abbey Ellis had six and Mary Ashley Stevenson chipped in with four. The veteran duo of Madison Layden and Caitlyn Harper had a forgettable half, going scoreless as a tandem and 0-9 on field goals.
Purdue also allowed the Spartans to score 12 points off turnovers in the first half compared to having only four points on eight Michigan State miscues.
After a brief charge out of the break by Michigan State that made it a 19-point game, the Boilermakers found their footing for the first time all night. A pair of Abbey Ellis free throws and Madison Layden's first field goal of the game took the lid off the basket kickstarted what turned into a 13-2 run.
The stretch got Michigan State's lead from 19 all the way down to eight with 2:02 left in the third quarter. The Spartans stopped the bleeding in the final minute to stop a six minute stretch without a field goal and preserve a 10-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Abbey Ellis was the catalyst behind Purdue's second half comeback attempt, scoring seven points in the third quarter as the Boilermakers took a step forward, shooting 38% from the field.
Moira Joiner and Tory Ozment expanded the lead back to 15 in just over 60 seconds in the final frame to halt any momentum from the Boilermakers. Abbey Ellis and Madison Layden combined for 12 points in the fourth quarter to keep the Boilermakers' slim hopes alive while Michigan State had an answer for each Boilermaker punch, maintaining a 15 point lead with less than five minutes to play.
Layden did kickstart another charge in the final four minutes, hitting the first of back-to-back threes with Sophie Swanson. That was followed by a three-point play from Abbey Ellis and another layup by Caitlyn Harper as Purdue cut the deficit all the way down to four points.
Ozment and Ayrault then had a pair of buckets to get Michigan State's lead back up to eight with 45 seconds to play.
Sophie Swanson hit another three just three seconds later, but the Boilermakers then missed their next three shots as the Spartans iced away another victory.
Abbey Ellis led the way for Purdue for the second straight game, dropping a game-high 22 points on 8-19 shooting from the field. That mark was the most for the fifth-year senior guard since a 28 point outburst on December 20th against Indiana State.
Pairing with Ellis' strong showing was a career day for freshman guard Sophie Swanson, who dropped a career-high 19 points in the loss. She broke her previous high, which also came against the Spartans less than a month ago.
The other backcourt mate of Ellis and Swanson had a solid day at the office in her own right as Jeanae Terry pulled in 15 rebounds and had seven assists, but did not score on Wednesday night.
Purdue will hit the road next time out, making the trip up to Madison to take on Wisconson on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. on Big Ten Network.