Purdue Women’s Basketball: Maryland 88, Purdue 45

Purdue was unable to capitalize on a huge upset opportunity as they fall on the road against Maryland after an 88-45 loss in College Park.

The Boilers came out of the gate shooting very well against the 7th ranked Terrapins and held a 12-9 lead just 5:27 into the game. Then everything came unraveled. Maryland closed out the first quarter on a 10-0 run and forced 7 Purdue turnovers, all of which came during the second half of the first quarter. The Boilers were able to stop their cold offensive spell after Maryland came out in the second quarter the same as they left off. The team was not able to get close in the second quarter as the Boilers were only able to muster 10 points on a dreadful 3-15 from the field. Maryland doubled up the Boilers in points off turnovers with an 18-9 advantage during the first quarter and scored 26 points in the paint compared to Purdue’s 12. Purdue also had another 8 turnovers in the second quarter to finish the first half with 15 as Maryland took a 35-22 lead into the break.

After the break, it was more of the same for Purdue as Maryland started the second half on a 15-3 run to take control of the game. The Boilermakers just could not keep up as Maryland shot 12-22 from the floor on their way to doubling up Purdue in scoring during the third quarter with a 28-14 advantage. Purdue was down 27 at the beginning of the final frame and the Terrapins never let off the gas as they simply manhandled Purdue and could not be stopped. Maryland outscored Purdue 25-9 in the fourth quarter to run away with a 43 point win.

Taking on the 7th ranked team on their home court is a tough task for any team, but this was just an embarrassing loss for a Purdue team that is vying for an at large bid in the NCAA Tournament. It will be interesting to see how bracketologists view this loss for the Boilers in terms of their potential seeding.

Purdue’s offense is really what killed them in this game as they shot just 19-61 (31%) from the field and 3-20 (15%) from three-point range. They also had a rough time getting any good looks as they turned it over an insane 24 times and started getting into their sets far too late in the shot clock. There were numerous instances where the team just dribbled at the top of the key without any movement until the shot clock was under 10 seconds.

The only two Boilermakers who contributed any consistent offense tonight were Ae’Rianna Harris and Fatou Diagne. Harris scored 12 points on 6-13 shooting and included 10 rebounds for her 30th career double-double. She also added to her all-time blocks record in Purdue history as she swatted 4 shots tonight. Diagne was great yet again in the blowout as she put up 12 points on 6-7 shooting and grabbed 6 rebounds.

Karissa McLaughlin and Dominique Oden both struggled mightily tonight as they combined for 16 points and had perhaps their worst shooting performances of the season. They shot a combined 6-29 from the field and 2-16 from behind the arc, which is not good if you did not know. These two are the driving forces behind the Boilermakers’ success this season and when they do not play well it reflects in their play.

The season is not over, Purdue has the opportunity to get a win against a solid Ohio State team for their regular-season finale. These teams met in December when the Boilermakers were able to get a win in Columbus and will be able to get the season sweep this weekend. This game could go a long way in cementing the Boilermakers’ spot in the NCAA Tournament. Senior night will be Saturday, February 29th at 5:00 pm in Mackey Arena on BTN+.