MILWAUKEE, Wisc. – The Purdue women's basketball team saw its 2021-22 season come to an end in the second round of the WNIT on Monday night with a 77-62 loss on the road at Marquette. The Boilermakers finish the first season of the Katie Gearlds era with a 17-15 record, a 10-win improvement from a year ago.
Purdue's 10-win turnaround was the best under a first-year head coach and tied for the third best improvement in program history. The Boilermakers also reached the postseason for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.
On Monday night, the Boilermakers could not rally in the second half from a five-point deficit at the break. Purdue opened the night shooting 43.8% over the opening 20 minutes, but that number dropped to 31.3% in the final two periods, finishing with a 37.5% clip for the game.
Brooke Moore led the way with 20 points, her second straight outing with 20 or more. The senior was 8-of-22 shooting and 3-of-6 from behind the line. Abbey Ellis added 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting and 5-of-7 at the line. Rickie Woltman jumped back in double figures with 10 points.
The Boilermakers had a tough time stopping Lauren Van Kleunen in the first half, who tallied 21 of her game-high 27 points in the first 20 minutes. Marquette finished with a plus-11 margin on the boards and flipped 15 offensive rebounds into 25 points, while Purdue hauled down 12 on the offensive end for 17 points.
Purdue matched early strides with Marquette in the first quarter. A 5-0 run on a Moore 3-pointer and Ava Learn layup gave the Boilermakers their only lead of the game at 16-14. The hosts built their lead out to as many as nine in the second, but Purdue kept chipping the game back to a single possession.
Back-to-back field goals out of the break by Ellis and Woltman brought the gap back to one in the opening minute of the third. Marquette answered with a 13-7 run to end the third and a 10-4 run in the fourth to pull away.
NOTES
• Monday was the first meeting between Marquette and Purdue.
• The Boilermakers committed 12 turnovers, but only allowed 12 points off giveaways.
• Jeanae Terry finished with eight rebounds and two assists. She became just the third player in program history to lead the team in rebounding (223) and assists (183) in a season.
• Terry's 183 helpers are the second most by a Boilermaker in a season and her 1.83 assist-to-turnover ratio finished ninth.
• Cassidy Hardin's 3-point tally finished at 78, good for fourth in single-season history.
• Already breaking the team record of 209 3-pointers in a season, Purdue finished 2021-22 with 239 makes from outside.
• The Boilermakers dished out 506 assists, the most since 2016-17.
• Purdue's scoring average of 69.2 points per game was the highest since 2013-14.
• Moore's 22 field goal attempts were the most by a Boilermaker since Whitney Bays attempted the same number on Jan. 22, 2015.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will reflect upon the successes of 2021-22 and begin building for the future. November cannot come soon enough.