Women's basketball: Purdue's season ends with 64-56 BTT loss to Nebraska
Purdue women's basketball saw its season come to a close on Wednesday afternoon, falling to fifth seed Nebraska 64-56 in the second round of the 2024 Big Ten women's basketball tournament.
Purdue's chances at any postseason tournament are next to zero, marking the end of the season for Katie Gearlds and the Boilermakers. Gearlds, for the first time in her college coaching career, finishes with a sub .500 record as Purdue wraps up the 2023-24 campaign with a record of 13-18.
Contrary to its first round win over Northwestern, the offense was a bit harder to come by in the early going for both Purdue and Nebraska. The Huskers made just three of their 18 field goal attempts in the opening quarter, while the Boilermakers shot 33% from the field.
Purdue did, however, get out to a 12-7 lead after ten minutes of play, thanks in large part to Jeanae Terry's four points to go along with five rebounds. Abbey Ellis, who struggled shooting, had a trio of assists as the Boilermakers had the early advantage..
The Huskers wouldn't go down easy, though, mounting an 8-0 run to regain the lead at the 8:21 mark of the second quarter on the heels of a Mary Ashley Stevenson layup. Purdue's freshmen guards then got going, starting with a Rashunda Jones layup, followed by three straight buckets by Sophie Swanson to take back the lead and extend it to six with less than four minutes to play in the first half.
Nebraska was able to close the gap once again, outscoring the Boilermakers 8-2 over the last 3:21 of the second quarter, which included a pair of triples from Jaz Shelley. The surge helped the Huskers tie things up at 25-25 heading into halftime.
After starting 1-8 from three-point range, Nebraska then made four of its next seven attempts from beyond the arc going into the break, with Shelley accounting for three of those connections.
Swanson's hot stretch helped lead the Boilermakers in scoring in the first half, who shot 35% from the field, and just 1-7 from three-point range. Jeanae Terry, Abbey Ellis and Mary Ashley Stevenson all chipped in with four points apiece in the half as well.
The second half saw the Huskers bounce back in a big way against the upset-minded Boilermakers, quickly taking a four point lead thanks to buckets by Alexis Markowski and Natalie Potts.
Purdue was able to take the lead back on two buckets by Abbey Ellis at the 5:18 mark of the third quarter before Nebraska got things going again. The Huskers put together a 10-0 run to take a nine point lead and looked to be taking complete control.
The Boilermakers then had a 6-0 run to close the third quarter to cut the deficit to three heading into the final frame, capped off by a Sophie Swanson triple. Swanson continued her strong performance with two more three-pointers to start the fourth quarter, the first of which tied things up at 40-40.
After Purdue made it a two point game at the 8:06 mark, Nebraska used one last charge to eventually down the Boilermakers. The Huskers went on a 14-0 run across a near four minute span to put the game out of reach, ultimately coasting to a XX point victory.
While Purdue had a rough day offensively as a whole (36% shooting from the field and its lowest point total since December), freshman guard Sophie Swanson finished her debut campaign on a very high note.
Swanson broke the school's freshman single-game three-point record, knocking down all seven of Purdue's triples in the defeat. She finished with a game-high 25 points on 9-13 shooting from the field and a 7-9 mark from distance.
After dazzling performances last time out, Abbey Ellis and Rashunda Jones both struggled against the Huskers on Wednesday. Ellis, in her final collegiate game, was 5-16 from the field and was the only other Boilermaker to reach double-figures outside of Swanson. Jones took a back seat to Swanson for much of the second half, had four points on 2-6 shooting.
Madison Layden also had another tough outing in her final game as a Boilermaker, going just 1-9 from the field and 0-6 from three-point range.