WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women’s basketball team hits the final stretch of the regular season vying for a spot in the Big Ten Tournament, starting Saturday with a noon tip against Rutgers. Craig Combs and
GAME INFORMATION
Purdue (11-13, 3-10) vs. Rutgers (9-15, 1-12)
Saturday, Feb. 14
Time: Noon
TV/Stream: B1G+
Radio: 95.3 BOB FM
Live Stats: purdue.statbroadcast.com
PROMOTIONS
• National Girls and Women in Sports Day Celebration
• Honda Awards 50th Anniversary
• Alumnae Reunion
• Golden Ticket Game
• Postgame Autographs
LAST TIME OUT
After a slow start in the first, the Boilermakers battled back from an 11-point deficit on the road at Indiana, but a similar slow start proved too much to over come in a 74-59 loss in Bloomington. Avery Gordon stood tall in her first trip down south with 17 points and four rebounds. Madison Layden-Zay hit a trio of 3-pointers to finish with 15 points and six assists.
NOTES
• Purdue held their turnovers under 10 in each of the last two games - four vs. Penn State and eight vs. Indiana. It was the first time since the 2021-22 campaign the Boilermakers committed fewer than 10 miscues in back-to-back games.
• Keeping turnovers at a minimum, Purdue has taken 44 more shots, including 21 more 3-pointers, than their opponents over the last two games, but shot just 35.4% from the floor and 24% from distance with the advantage.
• Avery Gordon recorded her fifth game in double figures this season and her fourth in the last seven outings with a 17-point performance at Indiana. The freshman is averaging 10.1 points on 65.2% shooting with six blocks and six steals over her last seven games.
• Tara Daye continues to have a career year, already surpassing her totals in points (291), field goals (108), 3-pointers (12) and free throws (63) from her first three years combined.
• Madison Layden-Zay is one of six players in Purdue history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists in a career and the first since Dominique Oden (2017-20).
• With three steals against Penn State, Madison Layden-Zay joined Caitlin Clark as the only players in Big Ten history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists, 200 steals, 200 3-pointers and 50 blocks.
• Layden-Zay has a team-high 79 assists on the year, four shy of her career high of 83 set as a junior. Layden-Zay has dished out five or more assists five times this season, one shy of her career high set during her sophomore and junior campaigns. She has four games this season with six helpers.
• After claiming the career 3-point record at Purdue, Layden-Zay has steadily climbed the charts to rank 24th in career scoring, 16th in assists, 14th in steals, eighth in games started, sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio and fifth in minutes played.
• Purdue is 18-2 since the start of last year when scoring 70 or more points and 10-2 this season. On the flip side, Purdue is 7-2 this year and 17-4 since the start 2024-25 when holding teams to 70 points or fewer.
• Purdue has spread the responsibility around this season with eight different players leading a game in scoring, nine in rebounding, eight in assists, 11 in steals and 10 in blocks.
• The Boilermakers have connected on 173 3-pointers this season, 15 away from cracking the single-season top 10.
• Tara Daye is one of four guards in the Big Ten averaging better than 12 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game this season.
• Avery Gordon and LSU's Grace Knox are the only freshmen over the last three weeks to score 70 points at a 65% shooting clip. Gordon scored 71 points at a 66.7% rate.
• Madison Layden-Zay has played 40 minutes or more six times this season, tied for eighth most by a Boilermaker in the last 25 years, six behind the 12 of leader Katie Gearlds as a senior.