Purdue women's basketball dropped a heartbreaker to Minnesota to open Big Ten play on Sunday afternoon, falling 60-58 on the road. The Boilermakers came into the conference battle riding a four-game winning streak that spanned two weeks before hitting a road block against the now 9-1 Gophers.
The Boilermakers now fall to 6-4 on the season and 0-1 to start the conference play after Sunday's defeat at the hands of the Gophers.
It took awhile for the offense to make an appearance in "The Barn" on Sunday afternoon, as both sides struggled mightily in the scoring department to start the game. Minnesota got out to a 4-0 lead less than three minutes into the game, which was followed by a 5-0 run by Caitlyn Harper and Abbey Ellis.
Harper accounted for six of Purdue's seven points in the first quarter, as she continued her momentum from the Boilermakers' previous game, where she scored a season-high 22 points.
Neither team scored in the last 2:13 of the first quarter and combined to shoot just 17% (6-35) from the floor in the defensive battle. Purdue also had four of its 10 first half turnovers in the opening ten minutes.
The Boilermakers picked things up a bit more in the second quarter, starting with Abbey Ellis knocking down the first three of the game at the 8:58 mark of the quarter. Minnesota's Mara Braun then hit back-to-back threes as she dropped 10 points on her own in the second quarter.
Minnesota began taking over near the halfway point of the quarter just a minute later, going on a 10-0 run across a three minute span to take a 23-13 lead with 3:55 to play. Purdue freshman Mary Ashley Stevenson hit the first three-pointer of her career a minute later and added a layup at the end of the half to cut it to a 25-18 deficit heading into the break.
The tables turned in the third quarter in favor of the Boilermakers as Madison Layden put the scoring responsibilities on her back. The senior wing exploded for 16 points on 6-6 shooting from the field and 4-4 from three-point range to help guide the Purdue comeback bid.
Purdue went on an 11-1 run in the middle of the quarter to take a 37-32 lead with 3:44 to go, which was followed by a short 6-0 run by the Gophers. Madison Layden and Jeanae Terry responded with a 6-0 of their own to give the Boilermakers a five point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
In addition to Layden's hot stretch, Terry also had seven points to go along with four rebounds and four assists in the quarter. Terry had scored seven or more points in a game just once this season prior to Sunday.
The Gophers did not allow that lead to stand for long, however, as they came out on a 9-0 run to begin the fourth quarter and regained the lead. Down the stretch, it appeared Purdue was going to sneak out of Minnesota with a victory after going on a 10-2 run to hold a 57-53 lead going into the final minute.
Minnesota outscored Purdue 7-1 in the final 61 seconds of the game and tied things up at 58 with just 13 seconds remaining. Purdue had an opportunity to score the go-ahead basket, but a turnover gave the ball back to the Gophers, who then were fouled and sank two free throws with three seconds left to ice the win.
Similar to last time out, Madison Layden and Caitlyn Harper led the way for Purdue in the scoring department. The senior tandem combined for 33 points on 13-19 shooting from the field, and 4-8 from three-point range. Layden' third quarter outburst helped guide the Boilermakers to the lead while Harper showed up in the first and fourth quarters to do the same.
Senior guard Jeanae Terry had another patented performance against the Gophers, with seven points, nine assists and a game-high 15 rebounds. Those 15 boards were the most she's grabbed in a game since having back-to-back 17 rebound outings during the 2021-2022 campaign.
Katie Gearlds' bench shrunk without freshman standout Rashunda Jones, who missed her second straight game. Jayla Smith, Mila Reynolds and Alaina Harper combined for just 22 minutes and did not score a bench point for the Boilermakers on Sunday.
Gearlds will look to rally the troops with a week off before traveling to South Bend to take on Notre Dame next Saturday in what will be one of the toughest tests of the year for the Boilermakers.
