Women's Basketball: Purdue 68, Rutgers 54
Purdue women's basketball traveled to Piscataway and earned a road victory over Rutgers, 68-54.
The Boilermakers bounced back after a lopsided loss to Indiana on Sunday. The success away from Mackey Arena continues for Purdue, as it was the fourth straight Big Ten road win since January 14th. The win also moves Purdue back above .500 in conference play at 7-6 and 16-7 overall this season.
After a rough second half during their last time out, the Boilermakers started fast in Piscataway. Rutgers opened up the scoring with a Kaylene Smikle layup, but Purdue took complete control of the game following the first bucket.
Abbey Ellis and Cassidy Hardin knocked down back-to-back threes to start the scoring for Purdue. Hardin and Ellis kickstarted what turned out to be an 18-1 run over the next six minutes. It was a balanced attack in the first quarter as five of the seven Boilermakers to see action scored in the first ten minutes.
While Purdue started the game well offensively, the defensive performance helped give the Boilermakers a commanding lead. The Scarlet Knights were held to 2-10 shooting and had seven of their ten first-half turnovers in the opening quarter.
The Boilermakers also suffocated Rutgers, forcing three shot clock violations in the quarter. Purdue's seven points surrendered were the fewest in a first quarter this season. Rutgers went on a short 4-0 run to close out the opening quarter, while Purdue held on to an 11-point lead.
After having one of their worst offensive quarters this season, the Scarlet Knights improved later in the first half. Rutgers shot 37.5% in the second quarter and was able to cut the once 15-point Purdue lead to 8.
The Boilermakers responded with the help of three players off the bench.Purdue got contributions from several supporting cast members in the second quarter to help preserve a double-digit lead. Jayla Smith, Rickie Woltman, and Ava Learn combined for 13 of the Boilermakers' 18 points in the second quarter.
Woltman had scored four points over the last three games combined but poured in 8 points in the first half alone. The senior big finished with a season-high 10 points on the night.
Smith joined Woltman in having a productive first half, scoring all seven points of her points on 3-4 shooting from the field. The duo provided a big spark off the bench to help Purdue take a 39-26 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the break, former Rutgers guard turned Purdue standout Lasha Petree got things going against her previous team. Petree had five points to contribute to Purdue's 11-2 run early in the third quarter.
Cassidy Hardin knocked down a three with 5:59 remaining to give the Boilermakers their biggest lead of the game to that point at 22. Rutgers turned the tide over the last six minutes of the quarter and went on a 15-4 run.
The Boilermakers went cold offensively, shooting 29% from the field in the third quarter as the once 22-point lead shrunk to 11 heading into the fourth quarter. Rutgers continued that momentum early in the fourth quarter behind four quick points from Awa Sidibe.
Purdue leaned on its perimeter to fend off the Scarlet Knights late in the game. With Rutgers threatening, Lasha Petree hit a three to bring the lead back up to 12 with less than 8 minutes to play. After going through a rough stretch offensively, Petree reached double-figures in back-to-back games for the first time since January 7th. Petree had a game-high 17 points in the win and led Purdue in scoring for the second consecutive game.
Kaylene Smikle scored on a layup to try and stop the bleeding for Rutgers. Purdue then took back control of the game with an 8-0 run that included back-to-back three-pointers from Cassidy Hardin. The fifth-year senior reached the 200 made three-point field goals plateau and is the fifth to do so in program history. Hardin's late-game shooting gave Purdue an 18-point lead with under four minutes remaining in the game.
The Boilermakers shot 58.3% from the field in the fourth quarter, including 3-6 from three-point range to close out the 14-point win. Purdue also held its opponent to under 70 points for a fifth straight game to continue their stretch of strong defensive performances.
Purdue ties its Big Ten win total from last year with the victory over Rutgers. Katie Gearlds' group now heads back to West Lafayette to host last-place Northwestern on Sunday afternoon. It is the first of back-to-back home games for Purdue before finishing out the regular season with two of three on the road.
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