Purdue Women’s Basketball Falls To #20 Maryland

Purdue fans are well aware of the ominous buzzer beater shots that end a well fought out battle. Tonight was no different when Maryland guard Shyanne Sellers hit her only 3 of the night to beat the Boilers 77-74 in Mackey.

Purdue came out hot shooting 71% from the field as Lasha Petree and Abbey Ellis led the way on the offensive unit. Unfortunately, turnovers loomed large for the Boilers once again as they turned the ball over 7 times in the first quarter.

Maryland switched to a zone defense to throw off Purdue as they went cold in the second quarter only shooting 27% from the field. The Terps came within one before Cassidy Hardin hit a 3 with a little under 4 minutes to play and the Boilers led 34-31. Purdue and Maryland traded a few points back and forth and the Boilers headed into the half with a 38-35 lead.

At the start of the second half, both teams seemed off kilter as each team hit only a single 3 during the first three minutes. Each team went on a run and Purdue was only up two, 59-57, when Ellis was fouled and stepped up to the charity stripe. Ellis missed both shots but Ava Learn grabbed the rebound and was fouled with the put back. She went 2/2 from the line and Purdue was up 61-57 heading into the fourth quarter.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Ava Learn scored a layup to extend the lead before Maryland hit a 3 and then a layup to go on top 64-63. Jeanae Terry hit a couple of free throws before Maryland responded with back-to-back 3’s to give the Terps a 69-64 edge. The Boilers and Terps fought it out and a Petree free throw tied the game at 74. Another Boilermaker turnover led to Maryland having the last possession of the game at the end of regulation and eventually scoring the game winning three.

Purdue (8-2) takes on Illinois State at home on December 11th at 2pm.