WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women's basketball team dropped its road game on Saturday at Penn State 70-60. The Boilermakers managed to trim a 15-point deficit down to four in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, but the Lady Lions pulled away on a late 6-0 run.
Caitlyn Harper dropped a season-high 20 points to lead Purdue (11-4, 2-3). The redshirt senior was 0-of-13 from the floor, 2-of-4 from behind the arc and finished a rebound shy of a double-double. Lasha Petree posted her 14th game in double figures with 12 points, including a pair of triples.
Jayla Smith, making her second straight start, tallied 11 points and five rebounds.
Purdue shot 39.3% from the field and went 7-of-21 from behind the arc. Led by Madison Layden's five assists, the Boilermakers provided a helper on 16 of their 22 made field goals.
Makenna Marisa paced Penn State with 24 points. She was joined in double figures by Leilani Kapinu's double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Purdue shot 48% from the field in the opening half but a barrage of 3-pointers by Penn State saw the visitors take an eight-point lead into the break. The Boilermakers made a trio of triples, while the Lady Lions hit from the outside seven times in the opening 20 minutes.
Lasha Petree scored Purdue's first five points of the game, and Harper connected on an early triple to put the Boilermakers up 8-3. The Lady Lions rolled back to score 10 straight and take a 13-8 lead late in the frame.
Penn State started the second on a 9-2 run that saw the gap grow to as many 12. Ava Learn hit back-to-back jumpers, and Harper tallied six points in the second, as the Boilermakers trimmed the gap down to 41-33 at the break.
The Lady Lions quickly rebuilt its lead to 15 in the first part of the third quarter. Smith went on a five-point run midway through the frame with one of the Boilermakers' two 3-pointers to bring the gap down to 12 going into the fourth.
Purdue opened the fourth on an 11-2 run with four points from Smith and Petree each. Petree's 3-pointer with 2:42 to play cut the deficit to four, but that proved to be Purdue's final points as the club missed its final four shots.
NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series with Penn State 34-23.
• Cassidy Hardin made one 3-pointer on the afternoon to move into sole control of seventh in program history with 184 career triples.
• Purdue is now 2-2 this season when scoring 70 points.
• Ava Learn gave Purdue a much-needed spark off the bench with eight points and three rebounds in a career-high 24 minutes of action.
• The two sides each finished with 39 rebounds. Purdue tallied six points on 10 offensive boards, while Penn State went for 10 points on 15 rebounds.
• Despite committing 21 turnovers, Purdue surrendered just 11 points off giveaways.
• Jeanae Terry finished one rebound shy of her sixth game in double figures this season.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers return to Mackey Arena to face No. 14/19 Michigan on Tuesday night. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. on BTN.