WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue women's basketball shot 54.5% in the second half to pull away to a 67-50 win over Southern in the home opener at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers moved to 1-1 on the year after celebrating the 1999 National Championship team throughout the weekend.
Senior Madison Layden paced Purdue with a career-high 21 points through an efficient 5-of-6 shooting, 4-of-5 from distance and 7-of-8 at the line. The Kokomo native added four rebounds and a trio of rebounds in 36 minutes of work.
Four of Purdue's five starters hit double figures. Abbey Ellis went 7-of-9 at the line to finish with 14 points to go along with four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Mary Ashley Stevenson went for 13 points and five rebounds in her first career start. Caitlyn Harper tacked on 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting and finished three rebounds shy of a double-double.
Jeanae Terry narrowly missed her fourth career non-point double-double, tallying 11 rebounds and seven assists. Six different Boilermakers dished out an assist, as the hosts tallied 19 helpers on 20 made field goals. It was just the seventh time since 2009 that a Big Ten team assisted on 95% of its field goals when making 20 or more.
Purdue finished the game with a 39.2% clip from the field and went 6-of-12 from behind the arc. The Boilermakers got to the line early and often, going 21-of-26 at the charity stripe.
The Boilermakers sprinted out of the gates in the first quarter, hitting five of their first seven shots with a 2-of-3 mark behind the arc. The early shooting helped the hosts build up an eight-point advantage midway through the first.
Purdue could not keep the early momentum, as Southern stayed close while the hosts made just two of its next 19 attempts in the first half. Layden went 4-of-4 from the field with trio of triples for 15 of Purdue's 25 points in the opening 20 minutes.
Stevenson set the tone for the third quarter on Purdue's first possession with an and-one through contact. The New York freshman and Ellis evenly split 14 points to help the Boilermakers score 30 in the third. Purdue was 7-of-12 from the field and 13-of-15 at the line in that frame.
Stevenson and Ellis combined for 23 of Purdue's 42 points over the final 20 minutes.
Purdue's defense held the Lady Jaguars to just 28.1% shooting and 4-of-16 from distance. Southern managed just five assists on 16 made baskets, the fewest by an opposing team in the Katie Gearlds era.
NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series with Southern 1-0.
• Abbey Ellis was 7-of-9 at the line but missed her first attempt of the game. Her free throw streak came to an end at 27 in a row going back to last year.
• Mary Ashley Stevenson became the first freshman to start a game and score 10 or more points since Madison Layden dropped 18 in the 2021 Big Ten Tournament against Iowa.
• Despite note scoring, McKenna Layden chipped in four rebounds a pair of assists, both going to Caitlyn Harper.
• The 28.1% shooting clip for Southern was the second lowest of the Gearlds era, behind a 27.5% mark against Minnesota last year.
• Purdue never trailed in the game and led for 38:50.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will round out the two-game homestand with a Thursday night showdown at Mackey Arena against Texas A&M. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on B1G+. The game will be Purdue's first of three straight against major conference opponents.