Women's basketball - Purdue dominates Quincy 106-45 in exhibition game
Purdue women's basketball took the floor for the first time on Sunday afternoon, taking on Quincy in an exhibition matchup in Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers handled business in their final tune up before the season opener against No. 4 UCLA next Monday, beating the D-II Hawks 106-45.
Purdue rolled out a starting five of each returning player from last season's NCAA Tournament team, Abbey Ellis, Jeanae Terry, Jayla Smith, Madison Layden and Caitlyn Harper.
That group of veteran Boilermakers got out to a strong start early on, beginning with a layup from Jayla Smith to open the scoring. Senior guard Abbey Ellis knocked down her first three point attempt sandwiched between a pair of buckets from Quincy before Caitlyn Harper and Mary Ashley Stevenson both got layups to go to give Purdue a 9-4 advantage. Quincy then had a short scoring spurt of their own, going on a 7-2 run to knot things up at 11 apiece.
That success was short lived, however, as the Boilermakers' youngsters took over in Mackey Arena. After freshman guard Rashunda Jones checked into the game at the five minute mark, Purdue was shot out of a cannon.
Behind eight of Jones' 10 first half points, the Boilermakers went on a 17-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 17 point lead at the end of the first quarter. Fellow newcomer McKenna Layden knocked down her first three pointer of the night and Stevenson added three points from the free throw line to help guide the burst.
The younger Layden came up big in the first half, going three for three from deep in the first 20 minutes for nine points in her unofficial Boilermaker debut. Layden would go on to finish with 12 points on 4-5 shooting from distance in the victory.
Purdue continued that success in the second quarter as it was Jayla Smith's turn to catch fire, scoring eight points in the first two and a half minutes, including a pair of three pointers. Smith finished with a team-high 20 in the lopsided affair, which would have been a career-high if not for the game being an exhibition.
After the Boilermakers got out to a 41-18 advantage halfway through the second, Quincy did its best to stop the bleeding, keeping the scoring level and making it a 49-27 game with 2:57 left to play in the first half.
Similar to the first quarter, that wasn't the case for long, as Purdue closed the half on an 8-0 run to take a 57-27 lead into halftime. The Boilermakers held Quincy to just 33% shooting from the field and forced eight turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
Coming out of the break, Purdue just ramped up its efforts in the third quarter. The Boilermakers started imposing their will, getting out to a 25-0 run to start the second half behind the front court freshmen duo of Mary Ashley Stevenson and Alaina Harper. The tandem scored 14 straight points in the third quarter as Purdue extended its lead to 55 at the 1:42 mark.
Purdue outscored Quincy 30-6 in the third quarter behind 61% shooting from the field and a pair of three pointers from Stevenson during that stretch. Stevenson dropped 10 of her 15 points in the second half and had a team-high 12 rebounds for a double-double in her first collegiate showing.
The Hawks found themselves down 54 heading into the fourth quarter as the Boilermakers put things in cruise control for the final ten minutes, rotating more reserves into the exhibition matchup down the stretch.
Emily Monson and Mila Reynolds saw extended minutes, combining for eight points in the final frame after playing sparingly through the first three quarters. Rashunda Jones also added five in the fourth to raise her total to 15 points to match fellow newcomer Mary Ashley Stevenson for most as a freshman in the contest.
Purdue took its foot off the gas down the stretch, turning in the lowest point total in the last ten minutes of the blowout win, going up by as much as 62, before finishing with a 61 point win over the Hawks.
After the final tune up of the preseason, Purdue is now set to travel to Los Angeles to take on a top five UCLA team on November 6th to open the 2023-2024 campaign.