WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women’s basketball team closed out the non-conference campaign with a 93-62 win over Jackson State on Sunday afternoon at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers (8-4) improved to 8-0 at home this season and headed into the holiday break riding a three-game winning streak.
Purdue put four starters in double figures, led by a career-high 22 points from Tara Daye. Daye was 9-of-12 from the field and grabbed four rebounds with three assists, two steals and a block. Daye joined Destini Lombard (2024-25) as the only Boilermakers to post a 20-point line like that over the last five seasons.
Kiki Smith poured in a season-high 20 points on a perfect day shooting. The junior was 5-of-5 from the field, 3-of-3 from behind the arc and 7-of-7 at the line. She added a game-high seven rebounds to go with three assists and one steal. Smith was the sixth player in the country to score 20 points and finish perfect from the floor and the line this season and the first Boilermaker to do it in over 25 years.
Madison Layden-Zay pulled herself closer to the Purdue all-time 3-point record. Coming into the game 16 shy of Karissa McLaughlin’s mark of 244, Layden-Zay connected four times from behind the arc and went 7-of-10 from the field to score 18 points. She is now six away from Katie Gearlds in third place. Layden-Zay added four rebounds, three assists and a block.
Hila Karsh notched her third straight game in double figures with 11 points, while dishing out six of Purdue’s 20 assists on the afternoon.
The Boilermakers shot 58.6% from the field, their third highest mark in the Gearlds era, while knocking down nine 3-pointers. Purdue scored 12 points on the break and turned 19 Jackson State (2-9) turnovers into 21 points.
Purdue won the rebounding battle 34-22 and allowed just four second chance points, marking the fourth game this season giving up five or fewer points from offensive rebounds.
Jackson State finished with a 42% clip from the field and picked up over half its points from distance with 11 3-pointers.
NON-CONFERENCE BY THE NUMBERS
- Purdue finished the non-conference season with an 8-3 mark.
- The 8-0 start at home matched 2023-24 campaign as the best under head coach Katie Gearlds.
- Purdue averaged 75.4 points per game in non-league action, good for third highest in the last 26 seasons, trailing the 2000-01 and 2022-23 campaigns.
- The Boilermakers held four teams under 50 points for the first time since 2017-18.
- Purdue posted five wins of 30 points or more, the most since 2010-11.
- Purdue connected on 84 3-pointers, good for third most in non-conference action in the last 25 years.
- The Boilermakers topped 80 points six times, their most this century.
KEY MOMENTS
• Daye scored six straight in the first quarter, as the two clubs traded early blows.
• The Boilermakers rolled off 10 straight points in the middle of the frame with five coming from Layden-Zay.
• Purdue dominated the second quarter, outscoring Jackson State 26-9, while going 10-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-5 from distance.
• Six different players scored in the second.
• Layden-Zay hit on a pair of 3-pointers to help Purdue close the half on an 11-3 run.
• Purdue tallied 54 points in the first half, most over an opening 20 minutes this season.
• Daye led all scorers with 14 points in the first half.
• Jackson State battled back in the third, taking advantage of Purdue’s lone frame under 50% shooting to win the quarter 19-18.
• Purdue poured in 21 points in the fourth, led by Daye’s six, to keep the gap at 30 points.
NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series 1-0 and is 160-58 in first-time matchups.
• The Boilermakers are 4-0 this year and 25-1 under Katie Gearlds when dishing out 20 or more assists.
• Daye, Karsh and Kiki Smith have all scored in double figures in each of the last three games.
• The Boilermakers have scored 90 or more points seven times in the last five years with three coming this season.
• Purdue has outscored opponents by an average of 37 points over the last three games.
• The Boilermakers have scored 20 points in three quarters five times this season.
• Layden-Zay is now 30 rebounds away from becoming the seventh player in Big Ten history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists, 200 3-pointers and 50 blocks.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will head into the weeklong holiday break before returning to Mackey Arena for the Big Ten home opener next Sunday against Illinois at noon. It will be Purdue’s Holiday Celebration Game with a teddy bear toss.