Purdue women's basketball saw its troubles continue on Tuesday night, as the Boilermakers dropped their third straight game, falling to No. 1 UCLA, 83-49. The onslaught in Mackey Arena was the seventh loss of the season against an AP Top 25 opponent for Katie Gearlds and company, all but one of which came by 18+ points and fourth by 30+ points.

It didn't take long for UCLA to establish its dominance in Mackey Arena, sprinting out to a 13-0 lead in just two minutes and 30 seconds of game action, handing the Boilermakers yet another early hole to dig themselves out of.

Rashunda Jones and Destini Lombard got the lid off the basket, with a Lombard triple at the 6:18 mark of the first, while the pair scored 11 of Purdue's first 13 to cut the lead to eight with 2:24 left in the opening frame.

That success was limited, however, as the Bruins then went on an 8-0 run to make it a 29-13 game through ten minutes, before opening the lead up to 22 within the first few minutes of the second quarter.

In the first half, UCLA shot a blistering 61% from the field and were 5-6 from three-point range, compared to Purdue's mark of just 25% and 1-7 from beyond the arc. That helped the Bruins take a 44-19 lead into halftime of what was a lopsided affair in West Lafayette.

Purdue was never able to claw its way back into the game as Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice continued to feast in the second half, extending UCLA's lead to as much as 31 points at the end of the third quarter.

That deficit reached as much as 34 on multiple occasions in the fourth quarter as the Bruins cruised to an easy victory in West Lafayette.

The veteran guard Destini Lombard was the most reliable Boilermaker on the night, on the offensive end of the floor. Lombard led the way for Purdue with 16 points, while shooting 6-11 from the field, and leading the team in scoring for the eighth time and third straight game.

Sophomore guard Rashunda Jones also chipped in eight points, as well as three rebounds and a team-high seven assists. McKenna Layden produced her best game of the season, dropping a season-high eight points on 3-6 shooting, including a pair of triples, to go along with a team-high four rebounds. Layden came into the night averaging just 1.7 points per game and had one occurrence of making two or more field goals.

The front court was held in check, with the help of foul trouble for the Boilermakers, as Lana McCarthy and Kendall Puryear played a combined 27 minutes and both fouled out. That tandem finished with five points, and two rebounds while facing National Player of the Year candidate and future All-Big Ten First Teamer Lauren Betts. Fellow big Reagan Bass also struggled in the loss, finishing with four points and two rebounds.

The Boilermakers dropped to 7-8 on the season and 0-4 early in Big Ten play, as one of four teams in the conference without a victory thus far. The 34-point defeat was also the seventh largest Big Ten home loss in program history and the most since falling to Maryland by 37 in 2021.

Purdue will now face a fourth straight top 25 opponent next time out as No. 25 Michigan comes to Mackey Arena on Saturday afternoon.

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