Women's basketball: Purdue notches first road win against Dayton 67-59

Purdue women's basketball notched its second win in as many games and its first true road victory of the year after a 67-59 win over Dayton on Friday night. The Boilermakers also moved back over .500 on the young season behind strong performances from Abbey Ellis and Caitlyn Harper down the stretch to fight off a Flyers' comeback attempt.

Friday marked back-to-back games in which the Boilermakers came out of the gates rolling. Madison Layden opened the game by knocking down her first three-pointer of the night, which has been a constant theme over the past few games, shooting 67% from distance against Georgia and Southern Indiana.

After a Mariah Perez layup to get Dayton on the scoreboard, Purdue opened up another first quarter surge. Senior guard Abbey Ellis went on what feels like a nightly scoring outburst, scoring eight points in just over two minutes, which included a pair of triples. Caitlyn Harper added a three-pointer of her own as Purdue took a 14-2 lead less than four minutes into the contest.

The Boilermakers connected on their first four attempts from distance on the road, which had been an area of concern in their previous three losses away from Mackey Arena.

The Flyers stopped the bleeding less than a minute later on a Shannon Wheeler layup, which provided a bit of a spark for them halfway through the quarter. Dayton went on a 7-2 run over a two minute span, cutting the deficit to seven.

Then, Rashunda Jones entered the game and had four points in the final few minutes of the first quarter, providing more instant offense off the bench for Katie Gearlds. On the heels of the spurt, Flyers forward Arianna Smith scored the last four of the opening frame, all in the final minute, to cut the Boilermakers' advantage back down to nine.

Purdue made a killing on the offensive boards, grabbing six missed shots, which turned into seven second chance points for the Boilermakers. While she didn't have a large scoring output in the first half, freshman Mary Ashley Stevenson played a large part in Purdue's success on the boards, grabbing a team-high six rebounds in the first half.

Coming out of the first quarter, Dayton ramped up its intensity in the second quarter, particularly on the defensive end. Purdue was only able muster layups by Caitlyn Harper and Mary Ashley Stevenson through the first five minutes of the second quarter after a strong start in the opening quarter.

The Boilermakers started 2-10 from the field in the second, allowing Dayton to inch back into the game and cut the lead to just five halfway through the quarter. Jayla Smith then snapped a near two minute scoreless stretch to bring the lead back to seven.

Madison Layden followed up the Smith layup with her second three-pointer of the half on the other side of a timeout before another Abbey Ellis capped off a 7-0 for the Boilermakers to expand the lead back up to 12 with 2:43 to play.

Just like she did in the first quarter, Arianna Smith scored four points to close out the second quarter to help the Flyers take some slight momentum into halftime, making it a 35-27 game at the break.

After a blazing start, the Boilermakers cooled off considerably in the second quarter, shooting just 33% and catching a case of the turnovers with five in the quarter. Purdue's defense was as stellar as it has been all year, helping fend off the Flyers.

Abbey Ellis helped lead the way for the Boilermakers in the first half, with a game-high 10 points on 3-7 shooting from the field. Ellis has reached double-figures in all seven games this season, leading Purdue in scoring this season.

Those offensive woes that have hindered Purdue throughout the season did not subside in the third quarter, posting a near identical line as it did in the second quarter. Abbey Ellis did score the first points of the second half 30 seconds in, but that was preceded by a 5-0 run by Dayton behind an and-one by Mariah Perez and a jumper from Arianna Smith.

Caitlyn Harper snapped the run and a four minute scoreless stretch for the Boilermakers with an layup at the 5:24 mark of the third quarter. That layup was followed by a response from the Flyers and then a three-point play from Mary Ashley Stevenson to keep the lead at eight.

Purdue's turnover troubles also continued, allowing Dayton to close the gap on several occasions in the quarter. The Boilermakers coughed it up six times coming out of the break, with half of those coming from the normally sound Madison Layden.

Luckily for the Boilermakers, Dayton was unable to fully capitalize on the miscues, as the Flyers went just 35% from the field compared to Purdue's 33%. After scoring 24 in the opening frame, the Boilermakers were able to muster just 20 points across the second and third quarters combined.

Despite inconsistencies over the aforementioned 20 minute span, the Boilermakers were able to put the struggles behind them to start the fourth quarter. Caitlyn Harper kickstarted that surge, first with a layup, then a jumper in the first 63 seconds of the final frame.

The Boilermakers' forward was the second-leading scorer offensively behind Abbey Ellis, finished with 13 points on 6-10 shooting despite dealing with foul trouble throughout the game.

Speaking of Ellis, the Aussie guard made four straight free throws with a Mary Ashley Stevenson connection from the charity stripe sandwiched between. The trio of Ellis, Stevenson and Harper combined to go on a 9-0 run over the first four plus minutes of the fourth quarter that made it a 53-38 Purdue lead.

Dayton was able to mount a brief comeback attempt on the heels of the run, producing a short 5-0 run itself. Ellis had a response up her sleeve, however. At the 5:07 mark, the speedy guard knocked down a crowd silencing three-pointer on the win to keep the Boilermakers' lead at 13. Ellis came up big down the stretch en route to her second 20-point game of the year.

The Flyers hit a three of their own before Ellis hit a free throw on the other end and Madison Layden knocked down her third three of the night. Dayton then went on an 8-2 run over the next three minutes, but it was too little too late against the Boilermakers. Purdue was able to drain out the clock over the last minute to escape Dayton with the 67-59 victory.