After six days off, Rutgers women’s basketball returned to the hardwood as they opened up their two-game Midwestern road trip at Purdue. It was an exciting start as the Scarlet Knights grabbed the lead behind early baskets from Nene Ndiaye and Lauryn Swann. Ndiaye knocked down three early threes and converted two free throws, but the Boilermakers surged after a quiet offensive start with three triples of their own to take a 14-13 lead near the four-minute mark of the opening quarter.
Swann knocked down a pair of pull-up jumpers to give the Knights the lead at 17-14, as both teams traded missed baskets towards the end of the period. With the Boilers going on a scoring drought for over three minutes, Zachara Perkins drove to the basket and finished with her left hand. Kennedy Brandt missed a long three-point shot at the buzzer as Rutgers was unable to generate a better look on their last possession of the quarter.
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Rutgers opened the second quarter up 19-14, and Ndiaye added to that lead as she was fouled on the way to the rim on a baseline drive, splitting a pair to push the Knights’ lead to six. After a couple of extra rebounds, Kendall Puryear worked hard to push to the basket, but their defense was not there as Ndiaye cruised to a layup on the other end. Tara Daye made a circus layup on the other end, tossing it up backwards with the Knights’ defenders on her and completing the and-one as she was fouled, which cut the Rutgers lead to 22-19.
Ivey knocked down a step-back three to push the lead back to six, but Nya Smith answered with a short jumper. Perkins grabbed her own rebound for a second-chance basket as Rutgers led 27-21, and Puryear was fouled by Janae Walker, cutting the lead back down to five after making one of two at the line. Kiki Smith cut the lead to 27-24 with a pair of free throws before Puryear made a tough layup on an assist from Madison Layden-Zay, sending the Boilers to the locker room down by one after the Knights led for most of the first half.
Puryear opened the second half with a driving layup to give Purdue their first lead since the first quarter, while a pair of layups from Daye put the Boilers up 32-30 after two minutes passed. Purdue pushed the lead to 36-32 on a couple of more layups, but Janae Walker answered back with a layup of her own to bring the Knights back within two. However, Smith found a wide-open Layden-Zay in the left corner on a Rutgers turnover to give Purdue a 39-34 lead at the five-minute media timeout.
Layden-Zay came out of the timeout by knocking down a three from the left wing, and it was followed by a left-wing three by Smith and a layup from Day, as Purdue pushed its lead to double digits. Ndiaye’s two free throws and another layup from Perkins brought Rutgers back within seven, but a midrange jumper by Daye pushed the Boilermakers’ lead back to nine. Avery Gordon was fouled down low and made one of two to push the Purdue lead to 50-40 into the fourth quarter.
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Gordon opened the final quarter with a hook shot to put the Boilers up 52-40, and Layden-Zay knocked down yet another triple as the Purdue lead ballooned to 15. Ivey broke the Boilers’ run with a midrange jumper, but Smith got the roll on a step-back three to bring the lead back to 16. Perkins’ layup was blocked by Gordon, but Ivey scored another layup before Swann completed an and-one play to cut the lead back to 13 points.
A couple of layups from Walker and Perkins brought Rutgers within eleven, but they would not seriously threaten Purdue the rest of the way. Smith knocked down a three to bring the Boilers back up 14 before Smith cut inside for a sneaky lefty layup as Purdue led 67-51 while the game wound down. A late three-pointer from Ndiaye was the last basket for Rutgers, as the final margin was a 72-57 victory for the hosts, their fourth conference victory of the season.
Ndiaye had another outstanding performance with a game-high 25 points, going 4-5 from beyond the arc and 7-14 from the field, but Perkins was the only other Scarlet Knight to reach double figures with 10 points on 5-11 shooting (all inside the arc). Swann struggled to shoot but still finished with nine points off the bench, while Walker added six, and Ivey added seven points. Perkins had four assists to lead Rutgers, while Walker’s seven rebounds led the Knights.
Purdue was led by Kiki Smith’s 17 points, while Daye and Layden-Zay both scored 15 points. Layden-Zay connected on five of ten from distance, while Puryear was a force in the paint with seven points. Nya Smith also contributed 11 points off the bench
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Despite outrebounding Purdue 32-30, Rutgers shot 40% from the field and just 28% from three. They had 14 turnovers to the Boilers’ 11, and Purdue made the Knights pay with 22 points off those turnovers, compared to just six points off of Purdue’s turnovers for Rutgers.
