STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The Purdue women's basketball team dropped its Thursday night game on the road at Penn State 80-67. The Boilermakers' freshman class combined to score 42 points on the night, its highest mark away from home this season.
Rashunda Jones set a new career high with 23 points on 6-of-13 shooting and went 10-of-12 at the line. It was the first 20-point game by a Purdue rookie against a Big Ten opponent since 2017-18. Jones now has three 20-point outings this season, the most by a Purdue freshman since the 2016-17 season.
Mary Ashley Stevenson came one point shy of her career high, doing for 13 points and seven rebounds. Steven has scored seven points and hauled in seven rebounds in six games this season, the most by a freshman in the Big Ten.
Sophie Swanson chipped in six points off the bench. Sixth-year senior Caitlyn Harper narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Boilermakers (9-8, 2-4) shot 33% from the field and went 4-of-15 from behind the arc.
Penn State (13-3, 3-3) finished with a 50.8% clip from the field with six 3-pointers. The Lady Lions were led by 22 points from Taylor Valladay.
Purdue committed 19 turnovers that turned into 21 points for the hosts, while converting 17 Penn State giveaways into 13 points.
The rookies paced Purdue in the opening stages with 21 of the Boilermakers' 27 points in the first half. Stevenson tallied 10 points with Jones adding nine.
The Boilermakers went 6-of-6 at the line in the opening 10 minutes to battle through early shooting struggles. Stevenson and Jones countered an early 6-0 run by the Lady Lions with 10 combined points. Harper added four points as Purdue trailed 18-16 after the first.
Penn State opened the second with a 15-5 run with Purdue's points coming from the freshman tandem. The Boilermakers scored 10 of their 11 points at the stripe in the second period. The Lady Lions led 37-27 at the break.
Harper and Abbey Ellis gave the Boilermakers a spark out of halftime with Purdue's first 10 points. Penn State took advantage of six Purdue turnovers to build up a 24-point advantage in the fourth.
Purdue rallied in the fourth quarter, outscoring the hosts 27-22 in the final frame. Jones tallied 11 points, including a perfect 8-of-8 at the line. The Boilermakers made 14 of 16 free throws over the final 10 minutes. Purdue's defense forced seven turnovers and trimmed the gap down to 12 midway through the fourth.
NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series 35-24.
• Jones joined KK Houser as the only Purdue freshmen since 2009-10 to make 10 free throws in a game. Houser went 13-of-13 on the road at Penn State on Jan. 28, 2010.
• Penn State eked out the rebounding battle, 37-35. Purdue scored 11 points on 12 offensive rebounds, while Penn State tallied nine points on eight second chance opportunities.
• For the first time in her Purdue career, Caitlyn Harper led the Boilermakers in assists with four.
• Abbey Ellis is now 71 points away from joining the 1,000-point club as a Boilermaker.
UP NEXT
Purdue will turn its focus to meeting with in-state foe No. 16 Indiana. Tipoff for the Barn Burner Trophy Game is set for 2 p.m. on Peacock in front of a packed Mackey Arena.