WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Behind five players in double figures and celebrating Alumnae Day, the Purdue women's basketball team rolled to an 84-71 win over Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon at Mackey Arena.
The Boilermakers (8-14, 1-10) finished with five players in double figures, led by a career-high points from freshman Kendall Puryear. The rookie from Lee's Summit, Mo., was an efficient 8-of-10 from the field and 2-of-3 at the line going against reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Serah Williams.
Purdue sophomores combined for 39 points in the win. Sophie Swanson attacked the rim to post a season-high 17 points, including a career-high 8-of-8 at the line. McKenna Layden narrowly missed out on her first career double-double matching her personal bests in points, 3-pointers and rebounds with 12, four and nine, respectively. Rashunda Jones chipped in 10 points, while dishing out a team-high five assists.
Ella Collier tallied 15 points on 5-of-6 from the field with a trio of 3-pointers.
Purdue matched its season high tally with nine 3-pointers, coming from five shooters, as well as 17-of-19 free throws This is It marked the second consecutive game Boilermakers had four or more players score 10+ points and the team collectively shooting 50% from the field, going 29-of-58 on the night.
Defensively, Purdue forced 11 turnovers to score 16 points, while surrendering just eight points on 11giveaways.
TOP STATS
The Boilermakers started and finished strong on Sunday afternoon. Purdue's 31 points in the opening frame marked the most in a quarter this season and tied for the third most in program history. Purdue closed out the game with 27 points in the fourth, another season-high and tied for fifth highest ever in a final frame.
Combined, Purdue shot 75% (18-24) from the floor and 5-of-10 from distance in the first and fourth quarters. The Boilermakers shot all their free throws in those frames, going 17-of-19. The Boilermakers committed just five turnovers and outscored Wisconsin 11-2 off giveaways between the two quarters.
KEY MOMENTS
• Swanson tallied nine points in the first knocking down her lone 3-pointer of the afternoon and going 4-of-4 at the line. The sophomore tallied seven points in her first three minutes on the floor.
• Jones converted a pair of traditional 3-point plays to score eight points in the opening frame.
• Purdue started the game 6-of-7 from the floor and finished the frame 10-of-13 (76.9%) shooting and 8-of-8 at the line, while outrebounding Wisconsin 8-3 to carry a 31-21 lead after 10 minutes.
• Reagan Bass and Puryear scored in the paint early in the second to keep Purdue's lead at double digits. Layden connected twice from long range in the second.
• Purdue led 45-39 at the break, after Wisconsin hit back-to-back triples to close the half.
• Layden and Swanson paced Purdue with nine points each over the first 20 minutes.
• Wisconsin climbed all the way back in the third with a 15-3 run to tie the game with 7:05 to play in the third.
• Collier and Layden both hit threes in the third, while both sides managed just one field goal each over the final four minutes of the period. Purdue led 57-54 after three.
• Collier and Puryear combined to score12 straight early in the fourth to open a 13-point advantage with 4:32 to play.
• Puryear took over in the paint in the final period with 10 points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field.
• Collier connected twice from the outside and made a pair of free throws for eight points in the fourth.
• Swanson was 2-of-2 shooting and 4-for-4 at the line and helped close out the win with eight of Purdue's final 10 points.
NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series with Wisconsin 59-22 with a 33-6 mark at Mackey Arena.
• The Boilermakers have their first five-game winning streak since 2002-09.
• Sunday was Collier's 16th game this season with a triple and the 125th game of her career.
• Puryear finished in double figures for the seventh time this year.
• Purdue's bench outscored Wisconsin 42-2.
• Bass finished with seven points to pull within 10 points of 1,500 for her career.
• Despite giving up 14 offensive rebounds, Purdue allowed just seven second chance points.
• The Boilermakers pushed the pace to score 16 fast break points, their most since the season opener against Purdue Fort Wayne.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will have the week off before heading to Rutgers for a 2 p.m. tip next Sunday on B1G+.