Women's Basketball: Minnesota 77, Purdue 69

Purdue women's basketball dropped their regular season with a 77-69 defeat against Minnesota Sunday afternoon. The Gophers came into the game with only two wins in the 2023 calendar year before springing an upset of the Boilermakers.

Purdue falls to 18-9 on the season overall and 9-8 in Big Ten play heading into the Big Ten Tournament next week in Minneapolis.

The Gophers opened up the scoring with a pair of post-up buckets to gain an early 4-0 advantage. Cassidy Hardin got things going for the Boilermakers with a transition three at the 8:12 mark. Following Hardin's three, Lasha Petree and Abbey Ellis both scored as Purdue went on a 7-0 run.

After trading baskets over the next few minutes, Purdue took an 11-10 lead with over four minutes to go in the quarter. Minnesota then went on a run of their own, scoring eight straight points, while Purdue struggled with turning the ball over.

The Boilermakers had a tough time taking care of the basketball through the first ten minutes, having five turnovers in the first quarter after just four in the win over Penn State earlier this week. The Gophers scored 9 points off of those five turnovers to make Purdue pay.

Jayla Smith stepped up with two layups in the last two minutes of the quarter to cut the lead back down to three. Minnesota's Alanna Micheaux then capped off the quarter with a jumper as the Gophers took a five-point lead into the second quarter.Every time Purdue looked to be making a run in the first half, Minnesota had a response. Alanna Micheaux scored six points early in the second quarter, the last of which extended the Minnesota lead to 8.

After a Lasha Petree jumper, Minnesota went on a quick 6-0 run and took their biggest lead of the half at 12.

Purdue then went cold from the floor, with just five points over the last 4:57 of the first half. Although the Boilermakers struggled from the field, they were able to lean on their defense to keep Minnesota from running away with the lead. Rickie Woltman cut the lead to 8 with a layup in the last ten seconds before Mara Braun hit a three as time expired to give Minnesota a 41-30 lead going into halftime.

The difference in the first half was Minnesota's success from three-point range. The Gophers were 5-10 from deep, while Purdue was only 1-7 through the first 20 minutes. A solid three-point shooting team went cold in Minneapolis.

The Big Ten's leader in team rebounds continued their trend of dominating the boards and out-rebounded Purdue 16-11 in the first half. The Gophers also had five second-chance points.

Katie Gearlds' group responded early in the third quarter and began to mount a comeback. Lasha Petree scored 8 of Purdue's first 10 points in the second half. Behind Petree's scoring outburst, Purdue cut the 11-point halftime deficit to just three at the 6:11 mark.

The Rutgers transfer has returned to her early season success in recent games, averaging 24 points in her last three games. Petree finished with a game-high 26 points this afternoon.

Abbey Ellis capped off a 14-2 run with a layup to give Purdue a 46-45 lead with 4:26 remaining in the third quarter. It was the Boilermakers' first lead since they held an 11-10 advantage in the first quarter.

After Isabelle Gradwell knocked down a three for Minnesota to retake the lead, Madison Layden responded with a three of her own. The Boilermakers and Gophers traded scores again before Purdue went on a 6-0 spurt behind Jeanae Terry's four points late in the third quarter.

The Boilermakers flipped the script on Minnesota in the third quarter. Purdue had 0 turnovers after having eight in the first half. Purdue also locked in on the defensive end, forcing five turnovers themselves and scoring 12 points off of those takeaways. Purdue also held the Gophers to 33% shooting in the quarter.

Minnesota and Purdue came out slow in the final ten minutes, becoming a defensive battle for most of the fourth quarter. After a Mara Braun three for Minnesota, the Gophers went over three minutes without points. Purdue had offensive struggles themselves and went nearly the same amount of time without a bucket.

After Alanna Micheaux snapped the scoreless streak and tied the game at 57, Madison Layden responded once again, knocking down a three to give the Boilermakers their three-point lead back.

Minnesota had one last response in them, however. Following the Layden three, the Gophers went on a 12-2 run over the next 2:25 to take a seven-point lead.

Purdue had the made tied at 62-62 when Lasha Petree drove into Minnesota's Katie Borowicz and drew a foul. Gopher head coach Lindsay Whalen called for a review, and the referees ruled that Petree made contact with Borowicz on the neck and called Purdue's leading scorer for an "intentional foul."

After the call, Minnesota knocked down a pair of three throws, Alanna Micheaux scored on a layup, and Mallory Heyer hit a three to give the Gophers a 69-62 advantage with two minutes remaining.

Petree came back down the court and converted an and-one to shrink the Minnesota lead. On the next possession, the Gophers took the shot clock all the way down before Mara Braun drove and scored what proved to be the game-clinching bucket.

Purdue missed seven of its last nine field goal attempts of the game, while Minnesota knocked down six free throws in the closing moments to cap off the upset win.

Gearlds and the Boilermakers will return to West Lafayette before making another trip up to Minneapolis in a few days for the 2023 Big Ten Tournament. Purdue will take on Wisconsin in the second round at the Target Center on Thursday.

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