Women's basketball - Purdue drops third straight, falls to Penn State 80-67

The losing streak has reached three for Katie Gearlds and Purdue women's basketball, who fell to Penn State 80-67 on Thursday night in Happy Valley. The Boilermakers had dropped two lopsided affairs against Iowa and Maryland heading into the matchup with the Nittany Lions.

Penn State continued its strong defense of its home court, moving to 9-1 inside the Bryce Jordan Center, while the Boilermakers fall to 1-5 in away games this season. Purdue now sits at 9-8 on the season and have fallen to 2-4 in Big Ten play, which is tied for tenth in the conference thus far.

It's safe to say the first five minutes of the game were tough to watch on both sides, as Purdue was completely out of sorts against a pressure Penn State defense while the Nittany Lions also struggled offensively. The Boilermakers missed their first five field goal attempts and had five turnovers in the opening 4:49 of the night. Penn State did get out to a 6-2 lead after going on a 6-0 to close that stretch.

Rashunda Jones got the lid off the basket at the 5:02 mark of the first quarter, getting a contested layup to fall and give the Boilermakers their first bucket of the game. Fellow rookie Mary Ashley Stevenson then knocked down a jumper as the Boilermakers found their footing in the gritty battle.

After falling behind 13-8, the Boilermakers controlled much of the latter half of the first quarter, outscoring the Nittany Lions 8-3 over a 2:30 span and tying things up at 16 apiece until Penn State's Tay Valladay hit a jumper to close out the opening frame.

Purdue held the advantage on the boards, pulling down 13 rebounds compared to Penn State's seven. A large part in that was the early turnover troubles, but the Boilermakers remained strong on the glass.

The second quarter was reminiscent of the first quarter in Happy Valley, as the Nittany Lions went on a 7-2 run after a Rashunda Jones free throw to open the period. Mary Ashley Stevenson had a pair of layups to keep the Boilermakers within striking distance as she put together what may be her best half of the season, scoring 10 points and grabbing four rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.

After Purdue cut the deficit to four at the 5:20 mark, Valladay and Moriah Murray combined to go on an 8-0 run to bring the Nittany Lions' lead to a then game-high 12 with 3:16 to go before halftime.

Leading scorer Abbey Ellis stopped the run with her first made field goal of the game at the 3:04 mark, followed by back-to-back scores from Rashunda Jones to helped the Boilermakers close the gap to eight. Valladay once again had the final score of the period, knocking down a pair of free throws to give the Nittany Lions a 37-27 advantage going into the break.

The freshman duo of Stevenson and Jones was the lone bright spot for Purdue on the offensive end in the first half, as the senior quartet of Jeanae Terry, Ellis, Caitlyn Harper and Madison Layden went a combined 2-11 from the field. Stevenson and Jones, combined for 19 of Purdue's 27 points in the first half, while Alaina Harper and Sophie Swanson both had a bucket.

The typically strong three-point shooting tandem of Layden and Ellis also went without a connection from deep in the first half, as the Boilermakers were 0-4 from beyond the arc as a team. On the flip side, Penn State shot 46% from the field and were able to get out in transition on a consistent basis.

Purdue had held Penn State in check for points off turnovers in the first quarter, but on five second quarter turnovers, the Nittany Lions turned them into seven points to help them take a 10-point advantage into the second half.

Penn State opened the third quarter on a 5-0 run as star guard Ashley Owusu began finding her groove on the offensive end, as well as a Shay Ciezki three gave the Nittany Lions a 42-27 lead less than a minute into the second half. Purdue responded with a 5-0 run of its own, cutting the deficit back to ten with 6:51 to play in the third.

Abbey Ellis and Caitlyn Harper got things going for the Boilermakers offensively after having a forgettable first half, scoring the first ten points for Purdue in the third quarter. That effort was thwarted by the Nittany Lions' strong finish to the quarter, going on a 9-1 run to take an 18-point lead into the final frame. Purdue was held without a field goal for the final 4:04 of the quarter as Penn State took complete control of the game.

Despite the game being out of hand in the fourth quarter, Rashunda Jones and Caitlyn Harper finished the night strong, combining for 17 points as the Boilermakers closed out the defeat in State College.

Thursday might be one of those game were you bury the film and move onto the next, which goes to show just how forgettable of a night it was for the Boilermakers on the offensive end of the floor.

Purdue had one of its worst shooting performances of the season in State College, going just 20-59 (33.9%) from the field in the defeat. The Boilermakers had some success in the fourth quarter, after the game was well out of reach, to boost those numbers however. Katie Gearlds' group also had almost as many turnovers (19) as it did made field goals (20) in the loss.

The Big Ten's leader in three-point percentage Madison Layden did not connect on a three for the fourth time this season, while being kept under ten points for the fifth time all year. Layden, along with the rest of the Purdue attack, was stifled by the pressure defense of the Nittany Lions.

As a team, the Boilermakers were just 4-15 from three-point range on the night. It was yet another loss that stemmed from poor outside shooting out of the Purdue offense.

In what was an off night for Katie Gearlds and company, standout freshman guard Rashunda Jones provided a bright spot for the Boilermakers. The rookie ball handler had been inconsistent since returning from injury at the end of December, where she averaged 4.3 points on 15% shooting, but finally began to look like herself on Thursday night.

Jones posted a new career-high in the scoring department, putting up a team-high 21 points. It was the third 20-point game of the year for Jones in her debut campaign with the Boilermakers. When the speedy guard is on, it does wonders for Katie Gearlds' offense, albeit that was not the case this evening.

Gearlds and company will be encouraged by the return of the version of Rashunda Jones that Purdue fans have come to expect out of the talented freshman.

Amidst a three-game losing streak, the Boilermakers aren't going to have any off days over the next week and a half. Purdue heads into the Barn Burner Trophy matchup against Indiana reeling, in what is already set to be one of the toughest tests on the schedule all season long. The Hoosiers are 16th in the country at 15-2, only falling to No. 2 Iowa and No. 8 Stanford.

On the heels of the Hoosiers coming to town, Purdue will have matchups on the road against Michigan State and Nebraska, along with a home date with Ohio State. All four of those teams on the docket are in the top five of the Big Ten standings as things currently stand.

At 9-8, Purdue's back is against the wall as it relates to its NCAA Tournament hopes, which are in need of a massive jolt during the latter half of the season. If the Boilermakers want to go dancing, upsets will have to occur in favor of the Boilermakers over the next four games.