WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women's basketball team could not hold off a second half charge in a 78-69 loss to No. 7 Maryland on Saturday afternoon at Mackey Arena.
Purdue (5-4, 0-1) had four players in double figures on Saturday, led by a season-high 17 points from Rashunda Jones off the bench. Jones was 7-of-11from the field and added three assists and one block. Reagan Bass tallied 16 points with a pair of 3-pointers.
The Boilermakers went 7-of-17 from behind the arc. Destini Lombard hit three times from distance to finish with 15 points, while Ella Collier made a pair to finish with eight points. Purdue shot a season-high 50.9% from the field and eight of the nine players who appeared in the game recorded at least one assist.
TOP STATS
The Boilermakers played stout defense over the opening 20 minutes, holding Maryland (10-0, 1-0) to 28.6% shooting and 2-of-12 from behind the arc in the first half. Purdue converted eight turnovers into 10 points in the first two quarters.
The Terrapins found their rhythm offensively in the second half with a 63.3% shooting clip and four 3-pointers, while trimming turnovers down to three.
KEY MOMENTS
• Purdue's defense set the tone in the early stages, holding Maryland to 2-of-17 from the field to start.
• While the defense stood firm, the Boilermakers jumped out to a 9-2 run with four points from Bass.
• Purdue hit five of their last six to close the first, including a Bass 3-pointer with three seconds left, to take an 18-6 lead.
• Another Bass triple, bookended by layups from Lombard and Jones, opened up a 15-point lead two minutes into the second.
• Ella Collier and Lombard drained back-to-back 3-pointers for Purdue's fourth and fifth makes of the half to make it a 31-15 lead.
• Jones scored the final five points of the half for Purdue to carry a 38-29 lead into the break.
• Maryland punched back out of halftime with a 9-2 run that cut the gap to two points with 7:04 to play in the third.
• Jones and Kendall Puryear combined for the Boilermakers' first eight points of the frame, but the Terrapins held Purdue to six points over the final five minutes of the period and took a 55-52 lead into the fourth.
• Lombard drained a 3-pointer to open the fourth and knot the score at 55-55. Maryland then went on a 14-4 run to open a 10-point gap with 6:10 to play.
• Purdue then scored six straight to pull back within four with 3:34 to go, but the Terrapins hit two of their four fourth quarter triples to pull away.
NOTES
• Maryland leads the all-time series 18-2.
• Purdue outscored Maryland 34-32 in points in the paint.
• Bass finished in double figures for the sixth time this season, while Lombard topped 10 points for the eighth game.
• Saturday was the first time Purdue dropped a game this season when scoring 10 or more second chance points, after starting the year 5-0.
• Kendall Puryear finished in double figures for the third time this season. The freshman was 4-of-6 from the field with five rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will be off until next Saturday when they host No. 14 Kentucky for a 5 p.m. tip on BTN.