CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – On a couple of bad bounces and late missed shots, the Purdue women's basketball team dropped its Sunday contest at Illinois 54-49.
Kayana Traylor led the Boilermakers (6-9, 3-8) in scoring with 14 points on 6-of-18 shooting with five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Freshman Madison Layden notched her fourth game of the year in double figures with 10 points and added a career-high five steals.
Purdue struggled to find its offensive rhythm in three of the four quarters, shooting over 30% in just the second period. Fatou Diagne hauled down 14 rebounds for her fifth straight game with double-digit boards, as Purdue dominated the rebounding battle 47-29.
Illinois (3-11, 1-10) jumped out to a quick 8-0, eventually building it out to a 15-7 advantage after the first. From that point on, it was all Boilermakers for the rest of the first half.
Purdue rolled off a 24-9 second period, the best scoring margin in a quarter all season. Traylor took over with 12 points in the frame on 5-of-9 shooting, while LAYDEN connected on a pair of triples. The Boilermakers shot 52.6% from the field and 3-of-6 from deep in the period to take 32-24 lead at the break.
Neither side made much of a run the third quarter, as Purdue carried a 40-36 lead into the final period.
In the fourth, Tamara Farquhar knocked down a mid-range jumper early in the period to open a four-point advantage, before the Fighting Illini scored seven straight to take a 47-44 lead.
Brooke Moore buried a right-wing triple to even the score with 2:27 to play, before giving the Boilermakers a 49-47 lead with 57 seconds remaining on a pullup jumper. However, Illinois used a 7-0 run in the final 41 seconds to pull away for the win.
NOTES
• Purdue owns a 61-18 all-time series lead with a 25-12 mark in Champaign.
• The Boilermakers are 21-9 when playing on Super Bowl Sunday.
• Purdue has held an opponent to single-digit scoring in a period five times this season, including three of the last four games.
• Purdue converted 21 Illinois turnovers into 11 points.
• Led by Layden's five swipes, Purdue totaled 14 steals, its highest output since 16 against Ball State on Nov. 7, 2018.
• Purdue shot 25% from the field over the final 12 minutes.
• The Boilermakers are now 1-2 this season and 66-9 since 2015-16 when holding an opponent under 60 points.
• Purdue hauled down 23 offensive rebounds, its highest total since 24 against Ball State on Nov. 7, 2018, but the Boilermakers could only convert them into five second-chance points.
• Topped by Kayana Traylor's sixth game this season with at least five assists, Purdue dished out 11 helpers on 22 made field goals. It was the 12th game with an assist on at least 50% of the made baskets.
• The Boilermakers played without Karissa McLaughlin and Cassidy Hardin.
UP NEXT
Purdue will return to Mackey Arena on Thursday night for 6 p.m. clash with No. 13 Michigan on BTN.
Stay up to date on all the latest scores, stats and stories surrounding Purdue women's basketball this season by following the team on Twitter (@PurdueWBB), Instagram (@PurdueWBB) and Facebook (/PurdueWBB).