INDIANAPOLIS — Purdue came into the Women’s Big Ten Tournament with confidence as they beat Nebraska on Thursday to advance to Friday’s matchup with Rutgers. Well…that didn’t last long as the Starlet Knights blasted the Boilermakers 64-49 on Friday evening at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Purdue started the game shooting three of three from the field. The Boilers then missed their next four shots and a 10 second back court violation leading to the media time out. Rutgers ended the quarter on a 7-0 run with the help of back to back turnovers from Boilermakers.
Rutgers full court pressure disrupted Purdue, forcing three turnovers. The Boilermakers went on a 3:52 scoring drought while The Scarlet Knights went on another 7-0 run which forced a Purdue timeout. The Boilers ended the quarter on a 5-0 run of their own that cut the deficit to 7 going into halftime down 31-24.
Out of the break Purdue went on a 7-2 run, with a huge three from Dominique Oden, that cut the lead to two for Rutgers. The Knights responded with seven straight points, Mael Gilles added an And-One that went into the media timeout. The Boilers came within one multiple times in the third period. Noga Peleg Pelc knocked down a three to end the third quarter to push the lead to four for Rutgers.
The Scarlet Knights pushed the tempo to begin the final period with the first six points as they led by 10. Rutgers outscored the Boilers 19-8 in the final quarter and held them to 26% shooting from the field. Stasha Carey led the Knights with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Though poor shooting for the Boilers Tamara Farquhar had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Ae’Rianna Harris added 10 points and nine rebounds. Rutgers will advance to play No.3 Iowa Saturday at 7:30pm.