Purdue women's basketball dropped its season opener on Monday night, falling 92-49 to No. 4 UCLA in Pauley Pavilion. The Boilermakers fell in their opening game for the first time in seven years, when they lost to Maine in 2016.
Head coach Katie Gearlds and Purdue faced a tall task with the top ranked Bruins and were outmatched in the matchup of future conference foes in Los Angeles.
The first possession of the game was a sign of things to come as UCLA went straight to Lauren Betts for the games first score. After Abbey Ellis scored Purdue's first points of the season, the Bruins began imposing their will early. UCLA went on a 6-0 run behind connections from three point range from Kiki Rice and Londynn Jones.
Purdue had trouble getting going in Pauley Pavilion, starting the game just 1-8 from the field. The lone scorer in the first five minutes of the game was senior Abbey Ellis, who snapped the Bruins' short run with a pair of free throws.
Freshmen standouts Rashunda Jones and Mary Ashley Stevenson were the first two Boilermakers off the bench for Katie Gearlds and got the offense going on the heels of a slow start. The tandem got a pair of baskets on back-to-back possessions to help take the lid off the basket for everyone not named Abbey Ellis, who was the only source of offense for the game's first six minutes.
The Bruins had a response up their sleeve, however. After Stevenson's layup to make it a 15-8 game with 2:50 left, UCLA went on a 9-0 run to close out a stellar first quarter. Four different Bruins scored during that stretch, showing off the depth of one of the nation's top squads.
The Boilermakers struggled with UCLA's size, having a pair of layups blocked in the first few minutes and did not have an answer for Lauren Betts. The 6'7" post had six points in the opening frame and altered several shots on the defensive end.
Purdue's offensive shortcomings that were a focus this off-season were present in the quarter. The Boilermakers shot just 3-14 from the field and missed all four attempts from behind the arch, while UCLA was 9-12 from the floor and 4-5 from deep.
Katie Gearlds' defense started to settle in during the second quarter, holding the Bruins to 1-6 shooting to start the frame. That allowed the offense to catch up and get in a groove as well.
Sixth-year senior center Caitlyn Harper helped lead a brief charge from the Boilermakers, dropping eight points in a three minutes stretch in the quarter, which cut the deficit to nine with just over three minutes to play in the half.
At that point, Purdue had outscored the Bruins 16-10 through nearly seven minutes. A 46% mark from the field was a step up from a forgettable first quarter, but the Boilermakers were unable to sustain the same success on the defensive end of the floor.
Despite that run, UCLA's three-headed monster was not phased. Lauren Betts, Londynn Jones and Angela Dugalic scored all 18 of the Bruins' points in the second quarter, including a 9-0 heading into halftime. The trio combined all scored in double figures and combined for 35 of UCLA's 42 points through the first 20 minutes of play.
It didn't take long for the Bruins to keep that momentum going into the second half, with Lauren Betts leading the charge. The standout sophomore score the first six points for UCLA in the third quarter as the Purdue front line struggled to contain the 6'7" center.
Betts turned in a career-high 20 points on 9-11 shooting to down the Boilermakers on Monday night, causing issues for Katie Gearlds' front court. Purdue was unable to deal with UCLA's size and athleticism, which was evident by the -18 rebounding discrepancy in the matchup of future Big Ten foes. The Bruins also finished with 16 offensive rebounds in the game, while Purdue had just eight.
Abbey Ellis and Jayla Smith each had a layup in the first two minutes for the Boilermakers to try to stop the bleeding, but UCLA's pressure remained. Purdue surrendered a 12-3 run to fall behind by 26 halfway through the third quarter. Ellis had a team-high ten points in the defeat while Smith was unable to replicate her success from the exhibition, being held to just four points on 2-7 shooting.
Freshman forward Mary Ashley Stevenson stopped the run with four points in the middle of the quarter during a successful debut campaign. Stevenson was one of the bright spots for the Boilermakers in the loss, finishing her first collegiate game with eight points on 3-4 shooting and grabbing rebounds.
That success was overshadowed shortly thereafter by UCLA's Charisma Osborne, who had a pair of threes in the third quarter, the second of which extended UCLA's lead to a then game-high 28 points.
Purdue's turnover troubles also began rearing its ugly head in the second half, coughing it up 19 times, leading to 26 UCLA points for the game. On top of that, the Boilermakers struggled with perimeter shooting, which was the group's Achilles heel a year ago, shooting 4-21 from beyond the arc in the loss.
The Bruins turned up the heat in the fourth quarter to put Purdue away for good, outscoring the Boilermakers 27-10 in the final frame as Katie Gearlds' group reverted back to its form in the first quarter.
Gearlds and Purdue will head back to West Lafayette, looking to regroup ahead of a matchup with Southern at Mackey Arena on Sunday evening.
