WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women's basketball team finally found its shooting touch three games into the 2020-21 season, as the Boilermakers rolled to an 82-70 victory over Buffalo on Wednesday night at Mackey Arena.
Guided by a trio in double figures, the Boilermakers (2-1) tallied highest scoring tally since Jan. 28, 2018, at Penn State. Purdue shot a blistering 52.7% from the field and 57.9% from behind the arc on 11-of-19 shooting.
Brooke Moore finished with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Tamara Farquhar notched her first double-double of the season on 11 points and 13 rebounds, plus a career-high six assists. Kayana Traylor added 17 points and eight assists, one off her career high. In total, Purdue dished out 21 assists on 29 made field goals.
The Boilermakers quickly erased any foul remnants of last Sunday with an early 18-12 advantage after the first behind a quartet of 3-pointers. Madison Layden Traylor bookend the opening period with triples. The second quarter saw Moore step up with eight points, while the Boilermakers tallied five points off six Buffalo turnovers. Purdue shot 46.4% from the field in the opening 20 minutes to take a 37-27 lead into halftime.
Purdue took a commanding lead out of the break with a 12-2 run in the opening two minutes. The Boilermakers poured on 31 points in the third, including 16 points in the paint, behind a 71.4% shooting clip in the period. After Buffalo (2-2) dwindled the lead down to 12 midway through the third, six different Boilermakers scored points in the fourth to hold the visitors off for good.
THREES START TO FALL
Entering the game Wednesday, Purdue was 1-of-28 from behind the arc and had missed its last 20 attempts. Against Buffalo, Purdue shot 11-for-19 with six different Boilermakers knocking down a triple. Brooke Moore was 4-of-5 from behind the arc. Cassidy Hardin and Madison Layden hit the first triples of their season and career, respectively. Tamara Farquhar even got in on the action with just her second career make from outside. It was Purdue best performance from downtown since 12 vs. Northwestern on Feb. 17, 2019.
QUOTES
Head coach Sharon Versyp on getting going early…
When the first ball goes in, it takes the pressure off everybody. You just get tight when you're not making shots. Madison was wide open and had a nice look. You could see the pressure and stress evaporate. Our players had fun tonight. They played hard. Having 21 assists was huge for us.
Kayana Traylor on the play of Brooke Moore…
I think it was just a matter of time. She's been doing well. She was just in a rhythm. She was knocking down shots and that was big for us tonight.
Brooke Moore on the shooting from the outside…
We've been practicing a lot of threes lately. We have a lot of really good shooters. I believe it was just a matter of time before we got going. The early shooting gave everyone confidence to take a three, regardless if they made or missed it.
NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series against Buffalo 1-0.
• Traylor recorded her third straight game in double figures, the first stretch of her career.
• Purdue's 31 points in the third were the most in more than two years.
• The Boilermakers shot 50% for the first time since Feb. 16 at Illinois last year.
• Purdue forced 21 turnovers, the second time pushing an opponent over 20 this season.
• Purdue has scored at least 80 points in two of its first three games for the second time in the last three years.
• For the third straight game, Madison Layden finished with a plus-minus of seven, making her one of two Boilermakers to have a positive plus-minus in all three games.
• Purdue recorded 34 points off turnovers, the most since Dec. 17, 2017, against Eastern Washington.
• Buffalo managed to score 25 second-chance points on 15 offensive boards to Purdue's 18 points on 12 rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will play their final non-conference contest Sunday at 2 p.m. against Bowling Green at Mackey. The game was originally set for Nov. 23, but COVID-19 protocol issues forced the contest to be moved to the Dec. 13.