Clunky First Half Results in Purdue's Demise in Big Ten Women's Tournament
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INDIANAPOLIS — If Purdue could erase the first two quarters of Wednesday night's first-round Big Ten Tournament game against Oregon, it would be preparing for the next round. Unfortunately for the Boilermakers, all four periods count towards the final score.
Oregon defeated Purdue 82-64 in the final game of the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday night. It was an ice-cold first half that resulted in the demise of Katie Gearlds' squad.
The Boilermakers found themselves in a 23-point hole at halftime after shooting just 8-of-33 from the floor. While they tried to dig out of that crater in the final 20 minutes, the task was too steep.
"It just kind of was this microcosm of the way things were for us [all season]," head coach Katie Gearlds said. "We make eight shots in the first half. I felt like they weren't — not all of them were rhythm sots, but a lot of them feel like they were open."
Purdue adjusted at halftime and was much crisper offensively. In the final two quarters, the Boilers shot 63% from the field and made 6-of-11 three-point attempts, headlined by Hila Karsh and McKenna Layden, both knocking down 3-of-4 shots from the perimeter.
Despite trailing by as many as 26 points in the second half, Purdue never quit. It whittled the Oregon lead down to 64-49 after the third quarter and got within 12 points with a chance to make it a nine-point game on a Karsh three-pointer with 8:06 left in the game.
"We had a chance a couple of times to get it to under 10, but just couldn't quite get over the hump," Gearlds said. "Every time we got close, I felt like Katie Fiso made a jumper or a turnaround baby hook over her left shoulder."
Lana McCarthy led Purdue with 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Karsh and Tara Daye each had 11 and Layden added nine. In the last meeting between the two teams, Purdue turned the ball over 21 times, leading to 31 Oregon points. The Boilermakers had just 10 turnovers Wednesday night.
Oregon was led by Fiso, who had 20 points on 7-of-14 from the floor. Ehis Etute had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Mia Jacobs totaled 14 points and nine rebounds for the Ducks.
Continuing to push Purdue's program forward
Finishing the season 13-17 and 5-13 in the Big Ten isn't exactly the goal this program had for itself when it started practices in the offseason. It certainly doesn't consider a first-round exit in the conference tournament a moral victory.
The Boilermakers did face some major challenges from the start of the year, though, particularly on the injury front. Purdue had to play without transfer Taylor Henderson because of an Achilles injury on the first day of practice. Transfer guard Taylor Feldman had a back issue that never really resolved.
At the end of the year, senior Madison Layden-Zay went down with a knee injury, missing the final five games of her career.
"We're out there with potentially three starters on the sideline in those white T-shirts," Gearlds said. "So, not ideal situations, but I can't think of a team that I would want to roll out there with any more than those girls and those women in our locker room. They never made excuses; they just kept working."
Gearlds said it's important for this program to continue moving forward, to keep "moving the needle." And although this year's teams didn't pile up the wins as she'd hoped, she was proud to coach a team that stayed united through tough situations.
"I know the wins don't show it, but there's not a doubt in my mind that this was one of the most fun teams that I've coached here, just because of their competitive spirit and their competitive joy," Gearlds said. "Their love for each other carried over every single day, and for that I'm really proud of them."
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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