WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A hiatus early in the third quarter proved too much for the Purdue women's basketball team to beat it Sunday afternoon against Rutgers at Mackey Arena, falling 75-57.
Purdue (6-11, 3-10) hit nine 3s in the afternoon with a 56.3% clip, while shooting 44.7% from the field overall. Defensively, the Boilermakers converted 13 Rutgers turnovers (8-3, 4-3) into 19 points.
Brooke Moore finished with 17 points, including five triples, the best of her career. Kayana Traylor dished out five assists along with 13 points on 4 of 6 shots and 2 of 3 from distance. Fatou Diagne fell back in double figures with 10 points and added six rebounds, the most of the team.
The first shots on the perimeter set the tone for both sides at first. Rutgers (7-3, 3-3) jumped to the front and shot 6-of-12 from the floor in the first period, but the Boilermakers never allowed the gap to grow to more than six. Fatou Diagne stopped a pair of Scarlet Knight runs with tightly contested baskets on the inside, before Madison Layden and Moore exhausted a pair of late 3s in the first.
In the second, six different Boilermakers found the roster, as Purdue scored six points in the paint and turnovers. Purdue shot 44.4% from the field and 60% (6-10) from distance in the first half, but Rutgers held a three-point lead at halftime.
A 3:47 gap to start the third quarter showed the difference in the game. Purdue committed seven turnovers during the span that turned into 11 points as Rutgers started the third on a 13-0 run. Far from being beaten, the Boilermakers continued to fight back. Traylor scored seven points on a Purdue 13-5 swing to close the period.
After Rutgers regained the lead to 13 points in the fourth, Moore, Diagne and Tamara Farquhar chained seven points in a row as the Boilermakers narrowed the gap to six with 4:50 left. However, down the stretch, Purdue went 3-0 from the field and scored just three points, all on the line, while the Scarlet Knights closed the game by making six of their last seven shots.
NOTES
• Rutgers leads the all-time series 8-5, including the victory of the last five.
• The Boilermakers hit at least nine 3-pointers for the sixth time this season and the first time since January 18.
• Fatou Diagne scored in double figures for the seventh time this season.
• Moore tied his career record for triples with five, equaling his best previous set against Alabama State in 2018 as Auburn Tiger.
• Traylor delivered five assists for the seventh time this season and 26 times in his career.
• The junior moved to 20th in program history with 283 assists, surpassing Carol Emanuel's 278.
• Madison Layden extended her game streak with a 3-pointer made to 15 with a couple of marks.
• The freshman also maintained her perfect streak of recording at least one steal in every game.
• Purdue's 19 turnover points were his fourth-highest total this season.
• For the fourth time this season, the Boilermakers lost the rebounding battle, falling 30-22.
TOP NEXT
The Boilermakers will open a two-game road swing beginning at Ohio State on Thursday. Game time and network allocation will be announced later.
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