WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women's basketball team improved to 4-1 on the year with a 73-55 win over UT Arlington on Sunday afternoon at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers controlled the defensive end, holding the Lady Mavs (2-4) to 31% shooting and turned 16 turnovers into 23 points.
The Boilermakers placed four players in double figures, led by Lana McCarthy matching her career high of 18 points.
For the second straight game, a pair of Boilermakers finished with double-doubles. Reagan Bass recorded her second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Destini Lombard stuffed the stat sheet for her first career double-double going for 13 points and 13 rebounds, to go with four assists, three steals and one block.
Kendall Puryear went 4-of-5 from the field to finish with 10 points.
TOP STATS
Lombard powered the Boilermakers on an early run with seven points and eight rebounds in the first quarter alone. McCarthy bounced back from early foul trouble with 16 points in the second half. The sophomore was 8-of-11 and grabbed four rebounds over the final 20 minutes.
Defensively, the Boilermakers broke any rhythm, as the Lady Mavs shot 31% from the field and went 3-of-16 from distance. Purdue recorded a season-high 10 steals. Sophie Swanson topped the team with a career-high four swipes. Lombard finished with three steals for the fourth time this season.
The Boilermakers blocked nine shots on Sunday, tied for the most in the Katie Gearlds era. Eight different players rejected a shot, led by Bass' pair.
Purdue dominated on the glass with a plus-15 rebounding margin (48-33). The Lady Mavs grabbed 12 offensive rebounds, but the Boilermakers surrendered just 11 second chance points.
KEY MOMENTS
• The Boilermakers started hot with six straight points with scores from Lombard, Ella Collier and McCarthy.
• Purdue later went on a 12-3 run with five points from Bass to open a 12-point advantage at 20-8 with 1:40 to play in the first.
• After UT Arlington cut the gap to give at the end of the first, Puryear went on her own eight-point run in the first 3:37 of the second to extend the advance back to 32-18.
• The Boilermakers scored one field goal in the final 3:03 of the half and carried a 10-point lead into the break.
• Sophie Swanson opened the second half with a steal and score, before Purdue turned its offense over to McCarthy in the post. The freshman scored 10 straight for the Boilermakers to keep the lead in double digits.
• Purdue opened the fourth on a 14-6 run with 3-pointers from Swanson and Rashunda Jones, the latter's first of the year.
• The Boilermakers shot 61.5% (8-13), while holding UT Arlington to 36% (5-14), to pull away in the final frame.
NOTES
• Saturday was the first meeting between the two clubs.
• Purdue moved the ball around with a season-high 20 assists on 29 made field goals.
• The Boilermakers are 19-1 when dishing out 20 or more assists under Katie Gearlds.
• The Boilermakers recorded 14 points on fast breaks.
• Bass is the first Boilermaker with consecutive double-doubles since Jeanae Terry during the 2022-23 season.
• Purdue has not had two players with double-doubles in consecutive games in over 23 years.
• Purdue has held an opponent to 60 or fewer points in 32 games under Gearlds, posting a 29-3 record in those contests.
UP NEXT
Purdue will head to the Elevance Health Women's Fort Myers Tip-Off this week. The Boilermakers will open the event at 4:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving against Middle Tennessee State, before squaring off with No. 1 South Carolina on Saturday at 11 a.m.