Women's basketball: Purdue falls to Michigan 64-60 in regular season finale
Purdue women's basketball fells in its regular season finale on Sunday night to Michigan 64-60, despite its best efforts to play spoiler on the Wolverines' NCAA Tournament hopes. The Boilermakers wrapped up the regular season dropping four of their last five to go 12-17 on the year and 5-13 in Big Ten play.
Michigan kicked off its Senior Night with a bang in the Chrysler Center, getting out to a 9-1 lead in just over four minutes of game play.
The Boilermakers missed their first eight field goal attempts of the night before Mary Ashley Stevenson got the lid off the basket at the 4:57 mark of the first quarter. Stevenson's layup was the first of three straight scores for Purdue, marking a 6-0 run that cut Michigan's lead to two with less than four minutes to play in the opening frame.
After an Elissa Brett three to stop the Boilermakers run, Sophie Swanson and Rashunda Jones scored the final four points of the first quarter to help close the gap.
On the heels of a brutal start, Purdue ramped things up on the defensive end, forcing six turnovers to get itself back into the game. The Boilermakers also shot 44% after missing their first eight attempts in the first quarter.
The freshman tandem of Rashunda Jones and Mary Ashley Stevenson combined for eight of Purdue's 11 points in the quarter.
The Wolverines got off to another quick start in the second quarter, expanding the lead to four by the 8:41 mark of the quarter, which was met with another Purdue surge. Abbey Ellis knocked down the Boilermakers' first three of the game, followed by an Alaina Harper layup to give Purdue its first lead of the night. Michigan bounced back with a 5-0 run to regain the lead in quick succession, however.
It was a back and forth finish to the half that saw Michigan head into halftime with a 27-22 lead.
Despite just a 30% shooting clip from the field and 1-11 from three-point range in the first half, Purdue was able to keep things close thanks to nine points off of 11 Michigan turnovers.
The Boilermakers were also outpaced on the glass, 23-14 in the first 20 minutes of game action, but limited the Wolverines to four second chance points.
Rashunda Jones led the Boilermakers in scoring in the first half with six points on 2-4 shooting, while Abbey Ellis had five and Mary Ashley Stevenson had four points. Jones saw an uptick in minutes with Jeanae Terry playing just three minutes due to a pair of early fouls.
On the flip side, Michigan was led by Laila Phelia and Lauren Hansen, who combined for 13 points in the first half. Cameron Williams, who scored the first four points of the game, was limited to six minutes with foul trouble, but found early success when on the floor.
Abbey Ellis got things started in the second half with a three-pointer, which was a precursor for what was to come in the third quarter. Ellis and the Boilermakers outscored Michigan 8-3 in the opening three minutes out of the break to even the scored at 30-30.
Michigan built its lead back up to six with a 6-0 run of their own before Purdue bounced back with four straight free throws. Both teams exchanged 4-0 run before the Wolverines took a 46-41 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Purdue had its best offensive quarter after halftime, scoring 19 points and shooting 45% from the field, including a trio of triples. Abbey Ellis put together one of her trademark explosion quarters, scoring 12 points, while Rashunda Jones had five points to help keep the Boilermakers within striking distance.
The Wolverines did just enough to keep Purdue at bay, however, shooting 50% from the field and maintaining the lead throughout the third quarter. Cameron Williams came on strong with six points, as well as Brett and Hansen both knocking down threes. Michigan also limited its turnovers in the quarter, not coughing it up once after 11 first half turnovers.
The Boilermakers and Wolverines traded blows in the fourth quarter as Purdue looked to play spoiler in March. Purdue cut the lead to one after outscoring Michigan 6-2 less than two minutes into the final frame, but the Wolverines got their lead back up to six with 3:09 to play.
Jeanae Terry and Abbey Ellis went on a brief 5-0 to claw the Boilermakers back within striking distance before Michigan scored four-straight to take a 62-57 lead with 1:22 left in the fourth quarter.
Ellis and Rashunda Jones continued their strong play in the second half, combining for 11 points in the final frame to keep Purdue's hopes alive down the stretch.
Jones knocked down a three with 55 seconds left, cutting Michigan's lead down to two. The Boilermakers got a key stop on the other end of the floor and had an opportunity to tie it up, but the freshman guard was called for a travel on a drive that would have evened the score.
Laila Phelia would go on to hit both free throws on the next possession to ice the game for the Wolverines.
Abbey Ellis' recent hot stretch continued in the regular season finale as the senior guard dropped a game-high 23 points on an efficient 8-13 shooting, including 5-8 from three-point range. Ellis is averaging 21 points per game over her last four outings.
Rashunda Jones posted her best game in over a month, scoring 16 points on 4-12 shooting. It was the first time Jones had reached double-figures since January 28th against Ohio State.
The absence of forward Caitlyn Harper, who announced she would miss the rest of the season after a torn ACL on Wednesday, was very clear from the start. Purdue's rotation of Alaina Harper and Mila Reynolds struggled in their first game with extended minutes this season. The duo combined for two points on 1-5 shooting and recorded just five rebounds.
Mary Ashley Stevenson and Madison Layden both struggled as well, combining for 12 points, but were just 5-19 from the field. The pair each had five rebounds apiece, however.
Purdue falls to 12th in the Big Ten and will face off with the 13th seed Northwestern on Wednesday in the Big Ten Tournament.