NORMAL, Ill. – The Purdue women's basketball team improved to 3-0 on the year with a 76-64 win on the road at Illinois State on Wednesday night. The Boilermakers had a trio of players in double figures and dished out 17 assists on 28 made field goals.
Purdue (3-0) was paced by Abbey Ellis' season-high 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Madison Layden chipped in 18 points with four 3-pointers, seven rebounds and five assists. Ra Shaya Kyle tallied 14 points with three rebounds and matched her career high with three blocks.
The Boilermakers, again, knocked down nine three pointers for the third straight game and shot 52.8% from the field. Defensively, Purdue blocked eight shots for the first time since the 2019-20 season and scored 20 points off 18 Illinois State (1-2) turnovers.
For the first time in the young season, the Boilermakers found themselves trailing in the first quarter. The deficit was short-lived. Ellis and Layden combined to score all the points on a 15-2 run that gave the Boilermakers a 17-10 lead in the first.
Rickie Woltman made her first mark on the game last in the first with a layup off an offensive rebound that stymied a Redbird run. The junior matched her career high with four points and set a new best with four blocks.
Coming out of the break with an eight-point lead, the Boilermakers quickly looked inside to find Kyle, who scored six of Purdue's first eight points of the third.
Layden, Ellis and Kyle put the game out of reach for good in the fourth, accounting for 19 of Purdue's 21 points in the frame. The Boilermakers shot 61.5% over the final 10 minutes to pull out the victory.
DISHING OUT DIMES
The Boilermakers made a habit of making the extra pass, with 17 assists on the night. Six different Boilermakers tallied a helper, led Layden matching her season high. Jeanae Terry and Cassidy Hardin both tallied four assists on the night, the latter was one off her career mark. The Boilermakers moved the ball well in the first half with 12 assists on 14 made baskets.
BLOCK PARTY
Purdue turned away eight shots in the win, the most since March 6, 2020, against Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament. Woltman split her blocks over each half and was the first Boilermaker to reject a quartet of shots since Ae'Rianna Harris had six against the Terrapins. Kyle matched her career high with three, originally set against Bowling Green on Dec. 13, 2020.
QUOTE
Head coach Katie Gearlds …
All road wins are good wins. Down 8-2 to start, we faced a little adversity. We talked about calling a timeout, but we wanted to see the maturity of our team and how they could weather the storm. They made another run in the second half. We just stayed the course and kept to our gameplan. We moved the ball pretty well. We need to cut down the turnovers. Everyone who stepped on the floor and our bench was really engaged.
Rickie was really good today. Shay struggled a bit in the first half, but she put the game away when we threw it into her in the second half. Rickie is someone who is going to set good screens and keep to the defensive gameplan. Abbey and Madison scored it. It was a great team win.
NOTES
• Illinois State now leads the all-time series 5-4, in just the second meeting since 1991.
• Purdue has hit 27 3-pointers through three games this season.
• The Boilermakers shot over 50% for the first time this season.
• Layden and Kyle both went 4-for-4 at the free throw line.
• Layden moved within one game of tying Ashley Morrissette for the longest 3-point streak in program history. The sophomore has now made a 3-pointer in her last 24 games.
• The Boilermakers have scored at least 70 points in all three games this season.
• Purdue notched 13 points on the fastbreak to Illinois State's three.
• Jayla Smith, Brooke Moore and Abbey Ellis all recorded two steals.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will return to Mackey Arena for two games in three days against Dayton and Marshall on Saturday and Monday, respectively. Tipoff Saturday against the Flyers will be at 6 p.m. on B1G+.