Women's Basketball: No. 2 Indiana 83, Purdue 60
Purdue women's basketball could not secure another upset as the Boilermakers suffered an 83-60 defeat to Indiana in Bloomington. The loss extends Purdue's losing streak to the Hoosiers to 9 in the series.
Purdue falls to 17-8 overall and 8-7 in Big Ten play with two games remaining before the Big Ten Tournament in March. Similar to their last meeting, Purdue's winning streak was also snapped in the loss. The Boilermakers have dropped two games over the last month, each coming at the hands of the Hoosiers.
Indiana was able to get out to a quick lead against the Boilermakers in Assembly Hall on Sunday afternoon. After Lasha Petree got Purdue on the board with a layup, Chloe Moore-McNeil, and Yarden Garzon hit threes on back-to-back possessions to take a 6-2 advantage.
The Boilermakers responded with a 5-0 spurt of their own to take back the lead after Petree and Jeanae Terry scored on consecutive possessions. Petree was the catalyst behind Purdue's offense in the first ten minutes, scoring 8 points to lead the way for Katie Gearlds' group.
Future All-American, Mackenzie Holmes, started to make her impact felt halfway through the first quarter with a layup and jumper as Indiana got things going offensively. The Hoosiers went on a 14-6 run over five minutes to take a 20-12 lead.
The Boilermakers' turnover issues reemerged in the opening quarter, turning it over six times while Indiana was able to score 10 points off of those turnovers.
After Purdue fell behind by 8 with just over a minute left in the first quarter, Lasha Petree hit her second three-pointer of the game to cut the deficit to five heading into the second quarter. That bucket began a stretch of Petree scoring 11 straight points for the Boilermakers. During that stretch, she eclipsed the 2,000 points mark for her career.
Despite Petree's impressive scoring output, Indiana took a commanding lead in the latter part of the first half. At the 4:13 mark of the second quarter, Sarah Scalia knocked down a three to give the Hoosiers a 10-point cushion.
Post players Rickie Woltman and Mackenzie Holmes traded layups after Scalia's three before Purdue kicked things into high gear. Led by Jeanae Terry, Purdue closed the first half on a 7-0 run to cut the once 10-point deficit to just three heading into halftime. The Boilermakers' defense also held Indiana scoreless over the final 3:18 of the half.
Aside from Petree's 17 point explosion in the first half, Purdue struggled from the field. Woltman and Terry each had 6 points, while the rest of the team combined for five points on only 2-11 shooting.
Coming out of the break, the third quarter played out similarly to Purdue's last matchup with Indiana as the Hoosiers took control of the game. Mackenzie Holmes scored the first four points of the second half, leading Indiana as they outscored the Boilermakers 13-5 through the first five minutes.
After an almost four-minute scoreless stretch, Lasha Petree had five straight points to cut the Indiana lead to 8 at the 3:40 mark. Indiana stopped that momentum as Chloe Moore-McNeil hit threes on back-to-back possessions to bring the lead back up to 14.
Purdue could not muster another run as they did in the second quarter, and Indiana extended the advantage to as much as 19 in the third quarter. Indiana leaned on its four biggest difference makers in the quarter as Moore-McNeil, Sydney Parrish, Grace Burger, and Holmes each scored six or more points and combined for all 27 of the Hoosiers' points. The Hoosiers were on fire in the third quarter, shooting nearly 70% from the field and going a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line.
After taking a backseat to Lasha Petree in the first half, Abbey Ellis was one of the lone bright spots for Purdue in the second half. Ellis scored 9 of her 12 points in the second half to become one of three Boilermakers to reach double-figures in the game, along with Jeanae Terry and Petree.
The Hoosiers took complete control of the game in the fourth quarter and showed why they are considered a legitimate National Championship contender heading into the NCAA Tournament. Indiana extended its lead to as much as 27 in the final quarter to coast to an easy victory and secure at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title.
Purdue played quite well for a half against the No. 2 team in the country before falling off in the second half this afternoon. The Boilermakers were outscored by 20 in the final 20 minutes of the Barn Burner Trophy Game matchup in Bloomington.
The Boilermakers will look to regroup in the final week of the regular season with matchups against Penn State and Minnesota before the Big Ten Tournament. The Boilermakers have another rematch with a team they fell to earlier in the season with the Nittany Lions coming to West Lafayette on Wednesday night. Purdue appears to be on the right side of the bubble, but will need to finish strong to secure its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2016.
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