WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women's basketball team saw its second half rally come up short on the road at Rutgers, falling 78-69 on Sunday afternoon at Jersey Mike's Arena.
The Boilermakers (8-15, 1-11) trailed by as many as 16 early in the third, but Purdue trimmed the gap all the way down to one with 7:46 to play. Rutgers responded with an 11-0 run that proved too much for Purdue to overcome.
Four Boilermakers finished in double figures, led by Sophie Swanson's 17 points. Rashunda Jones tallied 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists while playing a career-high 39 minutes. Kendall Puryear added 12 points and five boards.
Reagan Bass finished two rebounds shy of a double-double with 10 points and eight boards. The 10 points gave the senior from Strongsville, Ohio, 1,500 points for her career.
Purdue shot 41.8% from the field and went 4-of-21. The Boilermakers tallied 22 points off 19 Rutgers (10-14, 2-11) turnovers.
The Boilermakers were 9-of-13 at the line, while the Scarlet Knights went 20-28 at the charity stripe.
KEY MOMENTS
• The Boilermakers picked up four early points on jumpers from Swanson and Bass.
• Rutgers went on a 10-3 run to open up an eight-point advantage before Jones ended the run on a layup through contact.
• Jones scored four in the first quarter, while Lana McCarthy grabbed five rebounds, as Rutgers took a 17-10 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
• The Boilermakers trimmed the gap down to three early in the second with a pair of traditional 3-point plays from Bass and Jones.
• The Scarlet Knights rolled off nine straight points to open a 30-18 lead before a Swanson layup ended the run.
• Purdue shot 31% in the first half and went 0-of-6 from behind the arc, while Rutgers posted a 46% clip from the field with six triples. Purdue trailed 39-25 at the break.
• Swanson and McCarthy combined on a 9-0 run early in the fourth that cut the gap to seven with 5:49 to play in the third.
• Puryear scored six straight for the Boilermakers after Rutgers opened the lead back to double digits.
• The Boilermakers shot 9-of-18 from the field in the third to trail 53-47 going to the fourth.
• Ella Collier hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull Purdue within one with 7:46 to play in the fourth.
• The Boilermakers did not make a field goal for the next 4:29, until Jones crashed the basket.
• Jones' layup started a 9-2 run that saw Purdue get back within five points at 69-64 with 1:28 to play, but the gap was too much to erase.
• Purdue went 4-of-6 at the line in the second half to Rutgers 17-of-21.
NOTES
• Rutgers knotted the all-time series at 9-9.
• Lana McCarthy finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
• The two sides tied on the glass 39-39.
• The Boilermakers picked up 13 points on 14 offensive rebounds.
• Purdue tallied its sixth double-digit steal game of the season.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will return to Mackey Arena on Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. tip against Northwestern.