WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – On a day that Madison Layden-Zay became the Purdue career 3-point leader, the Purdue women’s basketball team used a 15-point run through the end of regulation to the start of overtime to defeat No. 23 Washington, 78-72, at Mackey Arena on Sunday.
It was Purdue’s first win over a ranked opponent since 2022-23 and the first at home since 2018-19.
Trailing by as many as 13 for the game and down by eight with 3:26 to play, the Boilermakers (10-7, 2-4) went on their run knocking down six of their next nine shots and held Washington (12-4, 2-3) off the board for 7:27 of game time, forcing 10 straight missed shots.
Layden-Zay sparked the late run in regulation with back-to-back 3-pointers, including her record-breaking 245th career triple. After both teams went scoreless for nearly the final two minutes, Tara Daye converted a layup through contact to event the score at 63-63 with 14 seconds to play. The Boilermakers’ defense stood tall on the final possession of the fourth, denying three Washington shots in the final seconds.
Purdue forced three straight turnovers to start overtime, while Daye continued of her own with seven straight points over the opening two minutes of the frame. Layden-Zay hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead to nine points, before Washington tallied their first points of the extra frame with 1:17 to play. The Huskies trimmed the gap down to five with just over a minute to play, but the Boilermakers went 5-of-6 at the line to close out the win.
Daye and Layden-Zay both stuffed the stat sheet on Sunday with matching 19-point outings. Layden-Zay added five rebounds, four assists, four steals and one block. Daye tacked on six boards, four assists and a pair of steals.
Lana McCarthy notched her second double-double of the year coming off the bench with 14 points and seven rebounds to go with a career-high three blocks.
The Boilermakers shot 42.4% from the field with seven 3-pointers and went 15-of-19 at the line.
THE RECORD
Madison Layden-Zay passed Karissa McLaughlin’s Purdue record of 244 3-pointers in a career with her triple at the 3:25 mark of the fourth quarter. With four 3-pointers on the day, the fifth year stands alone in the record book with 246 triples. It was Layden-Zay's 21st career game with four or more 3-pointers.
THE FINAL 15 MINUTES
• Purdue shot 45% from the field and made a trio of 3-pointers over the final 15 minutes.
• The Boilermakers went 10-of-13 at the line.
• Defensively, Washington managed to shoot 32% and missed all five 3-point attempts.
• Purdue forced 12 turnovers in the fourth quarter and overtime, scoring 13 points off turnovers.
• The Boilermakers outscore the Huskies 31-20 over the final 15 minutes of the game.
KEY MOMENTS
• Purdue overcame shooting struggles early with a 37.5% clip at halftime and 1-of-11 from behind the arc.
• The Huskies went 10-of-18 from the floor in the first quarter, using an eight-point run to open a nine-point lead after 10 minutes of play.
• After Purdue cut the gap to six, Washington extended the deficit to 13 midway through the second, before McCarthy tallied six points to make it an eight-point game at the break 38-30.
• Washington hit a pair of 3-pointers in each of the first three quarters, before Purdue shut them out in the fourth and overtime.
• Purdue converted a trio of 3-pointers and shot 50% overall while keeping Washington to 33.3% in the third to pull within five points 52-47 heading into the fourth.
• Kiki Smith and McCarthy combined for a six-point run early in the fourth to make it a one-point game, before Washington’s Elle Ladine scored seven points on her own to push the visitors ahead by eight.
NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series 4-2 with a 4-0 record at Mackey Arena.
• It was Purdue’s first ranked win since defeating No. 2 Ohio State on Jan. 29, 2023 and the first at Mackey Arena since defeating No. 25 Indiana on Jan. 25, 2019.
• Layden-Zay is now four rebounds and eight steals away from becoming the second player in Big Ten history to amass 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists, 200 3-pointers, 200 assists and 50 blocks.
• It was Purdue’s first overtime game since defeating Illinois 77-72 on Feb. 5, 2024. Purdue is 3-1 in overtime games under Katie Gearlds.
• The Boilermakers’ 13-point comeback was its most since erasing an 18-point gap against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament in 2022-23.
• Katie Gearlds passed Nell Fortner for fifth in Purdue history with four ranked victories.
• Purdue is 17-1 since the start of last year and 8-1 this season when scoring 70 or more points.
UP NEXT
Purdue will hit the road for a pair of matchups against No. 21 USC (Jan. 18 at 5 p.m. ET) and No. 4 UCLA (Jan. 21 at 10 p.m. ET).