Purdue women’s basketball bounced back from its 44-point loss to Notre Dame, beating IU Indianapolis 83-64 in Mackey Arena on Thursday night.
The Boilermakers needed a big third quarter to create separation from the Jaguars, but had big contributions from Sophie Swanson, Destini Lombard and Reagan Bass to help lead the second half surge to escape a would-be upset.
Purdue came out of the gates struggling, not as much as the last time out against Notre Dame, but was three of its first nine from the field, and turned the basketball over three times, leading to six IU Indy points in the early going.
Reagan Bass hit a pair of midrange jumpers before Kendall Puryear connected on a hook shot in the paint to give the Boilermakers an 8-7 lead at the 4:50 mark of the first quarter. A two minute scoring drought from both sides followed before Amiyah Reynolds’ layup and Rashunda Jones’ jumper got things going offensively for the Boilermakers and extended the lead to five.
After going down 7-4 early, the Boilermakers finished the opening ten minutes on a 12-2 run to take a 16-9 lead into the second quarter.
Purdue quickly expanded that lead less than two minutes into the second, as Sophie Swanson knocked down her first three of the year, followed by a layup a minute later. Swanson was 0-9 from three-point range coming into the game after shooting 39% from deep a season ago. The quick 5-0 run by the sophomore guard gave Purdue a 23-11 lead with 8:10 left in the first half.
IU Indy responded with a three before the Boilermakers went on a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 30-14 at the 6:18 mark of the second quarter. The Jaguars had a response up their sleeves, however, going on a 9-2 run of their own to cut the lead to nine.
Despite a pair of threes by Shania Nichols-Vannett in the final two minutes, Purdue maintained a 10-point lead heading into the break.
Senior forward Reagan Bass exploded for 12 points on 5-8 shooting from the field to pace the Boilermakers in the first half, while bringing down five rebounds as well. Bass was the focal point of the offense in the first half, and was the driving factor for Purdue’s 23-point second quarter that expanded the lead to 39-29 at the break.
IU Indy came out of the break recharged, storming back to get within five points after the Jaguars knocked down a pair of threes and outscored the Boilermakers 10-5 in the first three minutes of the second half.
Despite getting punched in the mouth, Purdue’s transfers came up big when it counted. Destini Lombard and Ella Collier hit threes on back-to-back possessions before IU Indy’s Stinson hit another in response. Lombard came right back to connect on her second triple of the third quarter.
After getting the lead back to nine with less than four minutes to play in the quarter, the Boilermakers pressed on the gas. Ella Collier kickstarted a surge to close out the third quarter that included another two points from Reagan Bass, a three from Sophie Swanson and a Rashunda Jones layup to cap things off.
It was a 9-0 run over the last three minutes to help the Boilermakers take a commanding 62-44 lead into the fourth quarter.
Purdue maintained its lead throughout the fourth quarter, thanks in part to another 6-0 run via Bass, Swanson and Mahri Petree. Purdue held the Jaguars without a field goal over a 7:09 span.
From that point forward, the Boilermakers coasted to their second win of the season.
The trio of Destini Lombard, Reagan Bass and Sophie Swanson led the way for the Boilermakers, combining for 54 points on an efficient 64% clip on field goals. Swanson’s outburst was the most notable of the three, considering her 26% field goal percentage coming into the game while averaging six points across contests against Notre Dame and Purdue Fort Wayne.
Bass produced her best game as a Boilermaker, finishing with a game-high 22 points on 7-13 shooting, while adding nine rebounds to lead the team in that category as well.
Destini Lombard continued her stellar play in a Purdue uniform as well, finishing with 15 points on 6-7 shooting, including 3-4 from three-point range, as well as a team-high four assists in the victory.
The Boilermakers came into the night shooting just 22% from three-point range, but caught fire in Mackey Arena on Thursday, Led by Lombard and Swanson, Purdue was a blistering 61% from beyond the arc.
Purdue’s rookie bigs did struggle, however, as Lana McCarthy and Kendall Puryear had a combined six points on 2-10 shooting, but did combine for 13 rebounds. The pair dealt with foul trouble in the second half, and McCarthy fouled out of the game.
Katie Gearlds and company will have the rest of the week off before taking on a currently 3-0 Bellarmine team in Mackey Arena on Monday night.
