WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women’s basketball team continued its perfect record at Mackey Arena this season with a 92-62 win over Howard on Wednesday afternoon, its largest win of the year. The Boilermakers (4-2) put five players in double figures and outscored Howard (6-2) 40-12 off the bench.
A pair of Boilermakers turned in double-doubles. Lana McCarthy finished with a career-high 19 points and 15 rebounds. The sophomore was 6-of-7 from the field and 7-of-10 at the line. It was the first 19-point, 15-rebound performance by a Boilermaker since Whitney Bays against Ohio State in 2014-15.
Tara Daye posted her second double-double in the last three outings with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Madison Layden-Zay connected four times from behind the arc to finish with 14 points to go with four rebounds and three assists. Kiki Smith laced a trio of triples to post 13 points and a team-high six assists. Taylor Feldman dished out five helpers in addition to 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers. Purdue finished the afternoon 11-of-27 from behind the arc.
The Boilermakers dished out a season-high 21 assists, their most since a 27-dime performance against Indiana State last year.
Purdue dominated on the glass with a 50-20 margin. It was Purdue’s largest rebounding margin since Nov. 17, 2016, against USC Upstate. Purdue grabbed a season-high 17 offensive rebounds to score 18 points. The Boilermakers also tallied 22 points on the fastbreak.
TOP STATS
After a slow start in the first quarter, the Boilermakers rolled off a 31-4 run between the first and second quarters, including 22 straight points. Layden-Zay connected on a pair of 3-poitners, while Lana McCarthy powered through a pair of layups to get the run started. The Boilermakers opened the second on a 15-0 run with a pair of triples from Smith. The Boilermakers kept a balanced attack with Layden-Zay, Smith and Daye all scoring eight points in the run.
Over the 22 straight points, Purdue converted 8-of-11 field goals, while forcing the Bison into 13 straight misses. Howard did not score for 8:12 of game time.
KEY MOMENTS
• Howard made three of its first five shots to open a 7-2 lead midway through the first. Purdue committed four turnovers in the opening three minutes.
• The Boilermakers posted a 12-2 run to close the first with a pair of triples from Layden-Zay. Howard did not score for the for the final 3:40 of the first.
• Purdue connected on six of its first eight field goal attempts in the second quarter to tally 15 straight points.
• The Boilermakers opened the gap to 23 points after back-to-back McCarthy layups, before Howard chipped the gap down to 16. Back-to-back triples from Feldman and Layden-Zay gave Purdue a 22-point edge at the break.
• Purdue made 12-of-19 field goals with five 3-pointers for a season-high 31 points in a quarter at a blistering 63.2% clip.
• McCarthy scored the first six points of the third quarter for Purdue to keep the lead at 20 points.
• Purdue shot 61.5% in the third with 3-pointers from Layden-Zay and Hila Karsh.
• The Boilermakers pulled away in the fourth quarter with Nya Smith adding six points off the bench.
NOTES
• Purdue and Howard met for the first time on Wednesday. Purdue is now 158-58 in first-time matchups.
• Purdue improved to 46-8 when scoring 70 points or more and 56-19 when holding opponents under 70 under head coach Katie Gearlds.
• The 92 points scored are the fourth most scored by the Boilermakers since the 2021-22 season.
• Purdue knocked down more than 10 3-pointers for the 18th time in the Gearlds era.
• The Boilermakers are 22-1 when dishing out 20 or more assists in the last five seasons.
• Layden-Zay is up to 221 career 3-pointers, fourth in Purdue history. She is 17 3-pointers away from Katie Gearlds for third in school history and 23 shy of Karissa McLaughlin’s all-time record of 244.
• Layden-Zay made her 99th career start, joining Kelly Komara and Erin Lawless for 17th on Purdue’s all-time chart.
• McKenna Layden knocked down her first triple of the year.
• Freshman Carley Barrett made her collegiate debut on Wednesday
UP NEXT
Purdue will hit the road looking for their first win away from Mackey Arena this season with a 1 p.m. start at Central Michigan on Sunday on ESPN+.