NASSAU, The Bahamas – The Purdue women's basketball team could not overcome an offensive slump at the start of the fourth quarter in a 65-57 loss to Georgia on Wednesday night in the final game of the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship.
The Boilermakers (2-3) trailed by just two going into the fourth, but the Bulldogs (5-1) went on a 14-2 run over the first 5:34 of the final frame to pull away.
Purdue matched its season high with six 3-pointers on the night. Madison Layden led the Boilermakers' four players in double figures with 14 points. The Kokomo senior was 5-of-12 from the field with a quartet of triples.
Mary Ashley Stevenson and Abbey Ellis each tallied 11 points, while Rashunda Jones added 10 points off the bench. Purdue shot 36.8% from the field for the game.
The difference came in second chance points and points off turnovers. Georgia recorded 20 points off 17 Purdue giveaways, but Purdue managed just eight points on 15 Bulldog miscues. On the glass, Purdue lost the battle 43-31. The Boilermakers turned 11 offensive boards into 14 points as Georgia tallied 19 points on 18 offensive rebounds.
Stevenson and Jones tallied eight of Purdue's 12 points in the opening frame. Georgia started on a 6-2 run, before the rookie duo pulled the Boilermakers back even at 12-12 with two minutes to play in the first.
After the Bulldogs extended their lead back out to six in the second, Stevenson went on a personal 5-0 run to bring Purdue back within one. Layden connected on a 3-pointer with 2:13 to go in the second quarter to give Purdue its first lead at 26-24, but the Bulldogs bounced back to make it a 28-28 game at the break.
Layden and Ellis combined for the Boilermakers first eight points of the second half to give Purdue its largest lead at 36-31. Layden halted several Georgia runs with a perfect 3-for-3 mark from behind the arc in the third.
From the 4:08 mark of the third until the 4:26 mark of the fourth, Georgia outscored Purdue 24-7 to open a 14-point advantage. Jones tallied the Boilermakers' final six points to cut the gap to single digits and the final horn. Purdue made its final four shots of the game.
NOTES
• Purdue took the all-time series lead with Georgia 2-1.
• The Boilermakers scored 15 points on the fastbreak.
• For the fourth time in three seasons, Abbey Ellis led Purdue in rebounds with six.
• Jeanae Terry finished with four assists to give her 400 in her career at Purdue, passing Katie Gearlds for 13th in program history.
UP NEXT
After playing four major conference opponents in the first five games of the year, the Boilermakers return to Mackey Arena on Sunday for a 2 p.m. tip against Southern Indiana on B1G+.