WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Four seniors left everything on the floor in their last time at Mackey Arena, as the Purdue women's basketball team dropped its home finale to Penn State 93-88 on Wednesday night.
Honored in a postgame ceremony, Caitlyn Harper, Jeanae Terry, Abbey Ellis and Madison Layden combined for a season-best 70 points with 29 rebounds, 18 assists, four steals and two blocks.
The Boilermakers (12-16, 5-12) were led offensively by Harper's best night as a Boilermaker with 29 points on 12-of-16 shooting and 3-of-4 from behind the arc with eight rebounds, a steal and a block. The 29-point outing was one shy of her career high set during her time at Cal Baptist in 2022. The sixth-year senior from Hartland, Wisc., crossed the 1,900-point line with 1,925 in her career.
Ellis electrified the crowd with 18 points on the night with a pair of 3-pointers. The fifth-year senior likewise passed the 1,900-point plateau for her career with her fifth straight game in double figures. The Australian moved up to 29th in Purdue history with 1,089 points as a Boilermaker.
Terry produced another typical Terry night in her Mackey Arena finale. The fifth-year senior recorded 15 rebounds, seven points, seven assists, three steals and two blocks. It was her 17th career game as a Boilermaker with seven points, rebounds and asssits. She also pulled within one point of reaching 1,000 for her career.
Layden etched her name into two career clubs at Purdue. The senior from Kokomo tallied 16 points with a quartet of 3-pointers and a season-high seven assists. Layden became the 37th player in Purdue history to reach 1,000 points in a career when she hit a pull-up jumper with 4:27 to play in the fourth. The Kokomo native achieved the feat in 107 games, good for 27th fastest. Layden also became the sixth player in Purdue history to reach 200 career 3-pointers, while passing Brittany Rayburn for fifth in Boilermaker history.
Freshman Sophie Swanson was the other Boilermaker in double figures with 10 points. The Barrington, Ill., native reached double figures for the third straight game.
The Boilermakers scored 20 or more points in all four quarters and shot 44.9% from the field with 10 3-pointers. Purdue dished out 22 assists to just eight turnovers and won the rebounding battle 41-32.
While Purdue's offense was efficient, Penn State (17-11, 8-9) connected on 56.1% of its shots. Five different players finished in double figures led by Ashley Owusu's 23 points.
Bothe sides came out firing in the first quarter. Layden notched her 200th career triple on Purdue's second possession and added another one later in the frame. Six different Boilermakers scored in the opening period, as Purdue trailed 22-20.
Purdue tied or took the lead in the second on five different occasions, before the Lady Lions used a 9-2 run before halftime to take a 47-40 lead into the break. Purdue shot 41% in the first half and flipped 10 offensive rebounds into 10 points.
After Penn State opened a nine-point gap early in the third, Harper took over to score 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting and 2-of-2 from behind the arc. The Boilermakers went on a 14-6 run to tie the game at 57-57 with 4:39 to play on an Ellis triple. Harper later scored five straight in a 40-second span with two minutes to play to pull Purdue back within one. Penn State led 65-62 with 10 minutes to play.
Harper and Ellis rolled off five quick points to open the final frame and give Purdue a 67-65 lead. Terry and Layden combined for their 5-0 run midway through the period to put the Boilermakers back ahead by two. Penn State countered with a 9-2 run and open an 89-81 gap with 51 seconds to play. The Boilermakers managed to cut the deficit down to a one-possession game with eight seconds left after an Abbey Ellis layup but that was the closest they would get.
The seniors scored 43 of Purdue's 48 points in the second half.
NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series with Penn State 35-25.
• The Boilermakers finished with 23 second chance points, a season high.
• The game featured eight lead changes and nine ties.
• Purdue topped 10 3-pointers for the 15th time under head coach Katie Gearlds.
• Harper's efficient night moved her up to sixth in program history with a career 54.2% field goal clip.
• Only Iowa's Caitlin Clark and Notre Dame's Olivia Miles have recorded more 7-7-7 games than Terry since 2021-22.
• The seniors combined for 30 wins at Mackey Arena over the last three seasons under Gearlds.
• Harper played over 30 minutes for the 13th time this season, after doing it just three times last year.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will close out the regular season on the road Sunday night with a 7 p.m. tip on FS1 against Michigan.