Women's basketball: Purdue knocks off Northwestern 74-48 on Wednesday night
Purdue women's basketball secured a blowout victory on Valentine's Day, defeating Northwestern 74-48 in Evanston on Wednesday night. The Boilermakers also notched their first Big Ten road victory of the season with the win over the Wildcats.
Katie Gearlds and company move to 11-13 overall and 4-9 in conference play on the season after Wednesday's win. Purdue has won two of its last three and will return to Mackey Arena on Saturday evening to take on Nebraska.
It was a fast start for the Boilermakers in Evanston, who sprinted out to a quick 9-0 lead less than four minutes into the evening. The run was headlined by none other than the reigning National Freshman of the Week, Mary Ashley Stevenson, who had an early four points for Purdue.
Northwestern began the game 0-6 from the field before Melannie Daley got things going for the Wildcats. Daley went on a 6-0 run of her own following Purdue's early 9-0 lead.
Another 9-0 run by the Boilermakers followed the brief Northwestern charge as Abbey Ellis got things going offensively. The run gave Purdue a 12-point led in the final minute of the first quarter before Maggie Pina knocked down a three in the closing seconds.
What allowed Northwestern to keep things close was Purdue's six turnovers in the opening ten minutes, resulting in all nine of the Wildcats' points.
Northwestern was unable to make up much ground while Purdue struggled from the field to start the second quarter, not scoring until the 7:04 mark. Back-and-forth baskets kept it a seven point game until the final four minutes of the half, when the Boilermakers found a surge.
Purdue closed the first half on a 12-0 run over the final 3:47 of the second quarter, which was kickstarted by back-to-back threes from Madison Layden and was capped off by a pair of layups from Caitlyn Harper. The run helped Purdue take a 36-17 lead into halftime in Evanston.
Harper and Layden led the way in the scoring department in the first half, having 11 and 9 points respectively in the opening 20 minutes of play. Abbey Ellis also added seven points on 2-6 shooting from the field.
Along with having the edge offensively, the Boilermakers also dominated on the glass in the first half, having 27 rebounds in the first 20 minutes, which nearly matched their average per game this season (34.4). That mark also included 11 offensive rebounds, leading to 12 second chance points. Northwestern was doubled up on the boards, coming down with just 13 rebounds in the first half.
The run to close the first half was nowhere near being over despite the break, as Purdue asserted its dominance even further in Welsh Ryan Arena.
Abbey Ellis got the third quarter started with a layup to surpass the 1,000 point threshold during her Boilermaker career, becoming the 36th player in program history to do so. That bucket marked restart of Purdue's lengthy run.
The Boilermakers would go on to score 27 straight points spanning over ten minutes of game action from the second quarter into the third quarter. It was the senior trio of Ellis, Madison Layden and Caitlyn Harper who scored 13 of Purdue's first 15 points of the second half.
Northwestern missed 12 consecutive field goals during the 27-0 run by the Boilermakers, finding themselves down by as much as 34 points at the 4:59 mark of the third quarter.
The Wildcats did turn things around briefly on the heels of the run, starting with back-to-back threes from Caileigh Walsh and Caroline Lau and another basket by Daley to get the Purdue lead under 30 points.
Purdue was able to coast to a lopsided victory in the fourth quarter, keeping its lead well over the 20 point mark for the final ten minutes of play.
Wednesday was a complete 180 from Purdue's last outing, a defeat at the hands of Indiana.
That flip was headlined by a dominating showing on the boards as Purdue outrebounded the Wildcats 46-29, including 13 offensive rebounds. After not having any second chance or fast break points in the loss to the Hoosiers, Purdue combined for 35 between both categories against the Wildcats.
A trio of Boilermakers scored in double-figures in Wednesday's win, led by Caitlyn Harper's game-high 17 points on 8-11 shooting from the field. Madison Layden (16 points) and Abbey Ellis (14 points) both had strong showings offensively as well.
Following up her stellar week last week, Mary Ashley Stevenson posted a line of 8 points on 4-7 shooting and five rebounds.
Jeanae Terry also put together one of her patented non-point double-doubles, racking up 12 rebounds and 11 assists, while having just one point. Terry also became just the second player in Big Ten history with 900 rebounds, 700 assists and 200 steals. The veteran guard also led a charge that saw Purdue have 25 assists on 29 made field goals.