WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women’s basketball team rolled to an 83-73 win over Eastern Michigan at Mackey Arena to improve to 2-0 on the year. The Boilermakers drained 12 3-pointers on the night, tying for ninth on the program single-game chart.
The Boilermakers scored 80 points in back-to-back games to start the season for the first time since 2002-03.
For the second straight night, four players finished in double figures. Hannah Wickstrom led the way with her second consecutive game with 21 points. The Australian knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and finished with a career-high nine rebounds, two minutes shy of a complete game.
Jelena Bulajić sparked the Boilermakers with three straight triples to start the night to go 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Bulajić finished in double figures for the second consecutive game, tallying 19 points for a new career high.
Sophomore Avery Gordon finished one rebound shy of her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high nine boards. The center was 4-of-5 from the field, while adding two assists and matching her career high with three blocks.
Kyndall Hunter tacked on 18 points with four rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. Taylor Henderson stuffed the stat sheet in her first career start as a Boilermaker. The Charlotte, N.C., native scored eight points with six rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes of action. It was her first start in 602 days since the end of the 2024-25 season at UNC Wilmington.
For the game, Purdue was 44.6% from the field and 12-of-24 from deep. The Boilermakers got to the line and shot 21-of-26, their second outing with more than 20 makes at the charity stripe.
Purdue outrebounded Eastern Michigan (0-2) 40-32 and pulled down 11 offensive rebounds with Henderson and Gordon combining for nine.
THE LONG BALL
Five Boilermakers knocked down a triple on Thursday night. The 12 triples were the most since Purdue downed Wisconsin on the road last year. The Boilermakers have made seven or more 3-pointers 85 times under Katie Gearlds, while reaching double figures 24 times.
The Boilermakers opened the game with four in the first quarter, three coming from Bulajić’s hot hand and the first career 3-pointer for Maya Zilbershlag. Purdue put the game out of reach with a trio of triples in an 11-0 run to make the lead 18 with 3:11 to play in the fourth.
Seven of the top 15 3-point performances in Purdue history have come in the Gearlds era.
KEY MOMENTS
• The Boilermakers fired on all cylinders to start, hitting on four of their first six shots. Bulajić connected on her first three shots con consecutive trips down the floor, all threes.
• Zilbershlag drained her first career triple to stop a 6-0 Eastern Michigan run late in the first to help the Boilermakers carry a 19-13 lead after the first.
• After the hot start to the first, Purdue cooled off in the second shooting 33.3% from the floor and committing nine fouls. The visitors took advantage of the foul trouble to go 9-of-10 at the line and carry a 38-35 lead at the break.
• Purdue rolled back into the lead with an 11-4 run to start the third. The Boilermakers allowed just two field goals in the opening half of the quarter.
• Eastern Michigan kept it a one-score game for most of the third, before Wickstrom and Hunter hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Purdue ahead 60-54 going to the fourth. The Boilermakers outscored Eastern Michigan 25-16 in the frame.
• Purdue built its lead to as many as 18 in the fourth quarter, holding the Eagles to just seven points over the first seven minutes of the period.
• The 11-0 run midway through the quarter put the game out of reach.
NOTES
• Purdue now leads the all-time series with Eastern Michigan 4-0.
• Wickstrom posted her 41st career game in double figures, while recording her 24th of 20 points or more.
• Purdue has trailed at the break in both games this season.
• The Boilermakers are 34-23 when shooting over 35% from long-range in the Gearlds era.
• Purdue is 59-9 when scoring 70 points or more since the start of the 2021-22 season.
• The Boilermakers have scored 59 points in the fourth quarter this year.
• Purdue has won 29 straight regular-season home non-conference tilts.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will play their third of a four-game homestand to start the year on Tuesday, November 10 against Southeast Missouri State with a 7 p.m. tip at Mackey Arena. It will be the Around the World game for fans, with a poster giveaway.