Women's Basketball: Purdue 87, Syracuse 78 - Game Recap
Purdue women’s basketball secured an 87-78 win over Syracuse in the final B1G/ACC Challenge matchup at Mackey Arena.
The Boilermakers moved to 5-11 all-time in the event, which runs out this year. Head coach Katie Gearlds also finished 2-0 in her two seasons at the helm for Purdue.
Purdue had been getting out to fast starts early in the season, but the Orange had a counter early in the game. The Boilermakers allowed Syracuse to speed them up and held just a 19-18 lead with over two minutes left in the first quarter.
The Boilermakers turned it on after that point. Lasha Petree and Jayla Smith combined for 17 points as Purdue outscored Syracuse 24-11 in the second quarter. The Purdue defense was also stout in the quarter, holding the Orange to just 26% shooting from the field, and took an 18-point lead into the break.
Coming out of halftime, Katie Gearlds’ group looked primed to make this game a one-sided affair. Purdue opened up a 21-point lead at the 4:20 mark of the third quarter and was coasting to a victory. Teisha Hyman kickstarted a Syracuse comeback attempt in the third quarter with seven points of her game-high 26 points.
“Give Syracuse credit, man, they just kept battling… kept their head down and driving it.“ Katie Gearlds said of the Orange’s fight in the second half.
Syracuse put the Boilermakers on skates, fueled by a fourth-quarter charge that cut Purdue’s once 21-point lead to just five in the closing minutes. Purdue’s 21 turnovers allowed Syracuse to claw back into the game, which the Orange capitalized on, scoring 16 points off of those turnovers.
A three-headed monster from the Orange of Hyman, Asia Strong, and Dyaisha Fair gave Purdue fits in the second half. Each of them scored 13 or more points in the half. Syracuse went on a 14-2 run, which started in the third quarter and looked to be stealing all of the momentum from the Boilermakers.
Senior Abbey Ellis hit a three on the wing with 4:09 remaining to stop the bleeding and keep Purdue up by 8.
Katie Gearlds said of the Ellis basket, “We hadn’t hit one in the second half. Finally, it kinda got the lid off of the basket for us, opened things up.”
Lasha Petree then took over the next several minutes, scoring 10 of Purdue’s 19 fourth-quarter points. Petree’s strong finish was what ultimately catapulted the Boilermakers to a win.
Petree finished with a season-high at Purdue with 31 points on 13-21 shooting and seven rebounds. In a game where the Boilermakers shot just 3-17 from three-point range, Petree took over and established herself as the clear-cut number-one option for Katie Gearlds.
When asked if she knew Petree was capable of having this type of performance, Katie Gearlds said, “Yeah, we knew it. I don’t think anybody else knew it. Secret’s out, baby.”
Petree leads Purdue in scoring during her first year in black and gold with 19.9 points per game through the team’s first eight contests.
Jayla Smith was the only other Boilermaker in double-digits with 12 points on 6-9 shooting from the field. Caitlyn Harper and Abbey Ellis each scored 9 points on efficient shooting for Purdue.
Purdue will have a much-needed rest between tonight and Monday evening. The Boilermakers are set to travel to East Lansing to play Michigan State in their Big Ten opener and then return to Mackey Arena to host Maryland.