INDIANAPOLIS, IN- The Purdue women’s basketball (18-13, 9-8) lost to Rutgers 62-60 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament Thursday afternoon in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
In the first quarter the Boilers struggled to get the ball to fall. Coach Versyp’s team shot 26% in the first quarter. Purdue sophomore guard, Dominique Oden, had all eight points for the Boilers in the first quarter. Rutgers went on a 9-2 run to end the opening period up 15-8.
The Boilers got it going in the second quarter and closed the gap to within one off of an 8-0 run with 5:30 left in the half. Rutgers was dominant in the paint scoring 18 points down low before the break.
Both teams came out strong in the second half. The leading scorer for the Scarlet Knights, Tyler Scaife, was aggressive to start the third quarter scoring nine of her 19 points in that period. Rutgers had a lot of production on the stat sheet. Victoria Harris scored 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists while Caltlyn Jenkins finished with 8 points, 5 blocks, and 5 rebounds
The interior for Rutgers was the key to the game as they finished with 10 blocks. They forced Purdue to shoot the ball a lot more from the perimeter. Dominique Oden scored a game high 25 points and 4 rebounds. The Boilers were 66 percent from behind the arc in the fourth quarter.
The Boilermakers’ lone senior, Andreona Keys, struggled from the field but had trust in her teammates and floor general, Karissa McLaughlin, who finished the day with 13 points, 5 assists, and 2 key steals late in the game.
With 1:50 to go the Boilermakers forced huge turnover. Freshman guard, Karissa McLaughlin, gets a steal and a layup. Then another McLaughlin steal, pass to Oden, for a layup and a foul.
Everyone in the building knew where the ball was going as Purdue tied the game at 60 with 14.2 seconds left. Then Rutgers’ senior, Tyler Scaife, made the shot of her career with four seconds left in the game that put the Boilers away.
Now the Boilers will have to wait to hear from the NCAA Committee to see If they’ll make the Tournament.