Kendall Puryear, Sophie Swanson Lift Purdue Over Wisconsin for First Big Ten Win
Smiles occupied the faces of everyone wearing a Purdue women's basketball uniform on Sunday. When the final buzzer sounded, the Boilermakers were on the winning side of the scoreboard for the first time in Big Ten play, defeating Wisconsin 84-71.
The win snapped a nine-game losing streak. And, it should go without saying, but Purdue enjoyed the hell out of that victory.
"It feels great. We were all excited in the locker room," senior Ella Collier said. "It feels good to finally leave Mackey with a win and being excited about how we played."
Purdue came out of the gate firing on all cylinders. By the end of the first quarter, the Boilermakers owned a 31-21 advantage and pushed the lead out to as many as 14 points. Wisconsin outscored Purdue 33-26 in the middle two quarters and eventually cut the lead down to one point in the fourth.
But a huge fourth quarter from freshman Kendall Puryear — scoring 10 points in the last 10 minutes — proved to be the difference.
"She shows exactly what we see every day in practice," Collier said of Puryear's performance. "She's been doing great for us — taking her shot, being aggressive."
Puryear ended the game with a team-high 18 points off the bench and made eight-of-10 field goal attempts. Coach Katie Gearlds said the freshman's performance was a testament to her work ethic.
"I think we've seen it every day in the gym. Every day, her and Lana (McCarthy) are the first ones in and the last ones to leave," Gearlds said. "I think the biggest thing is she's just slowed down a little bit. When she gets sped up, the travels or the turnovers come. We've done a better job of staying on the perimeter and giving her more space to move."
Sophie Swanson also provided a nice spark for the Boilermakers off the bench. The sophomore shar-shooter ended her night with 17 points before fouling out late.
"Sophie was great the other night against Nebraska, obviously the cramps (got to her) — I think she did a better job healing herself over the last couple of days," Gearlds said. "She's just confident, you can see it. She's been confident the last week or so."
In addition to Puryear and Swanson combining for 35 points off the bench, three Purdue starters also reached double-digit scoring totals. Collier finished the game with 15 points and Rasunda Jones had 10 points and five assists. McKenna Layden had a strong outing and nearly recorded a double-double, scoring 12 points and collecting nine rebounds.
Purdue generated some momentum for itself in Thursday night's game against Nebraska. Although the Boilermakers dropped a 74-68 decision, they hung with a tough Huskers squad.
"I think we came with a lot more fight and a lot more energy these last two games," Puryear said. "I think that made the difference."
Now, Purdue gets a much-needed break. Not only have the Boilers played the second-toughest scheduled in the country (per the NET rankings), they've also played three games in the last seven days. They won't hit the floor until next Sunday, traveling to Piscataway to play Rutgers.
The goal for Purdue moving forward? Take the momentum and confidence it has gained from the previous two outings and carry into the remaining seven regular season games.
"I think this definitely gave us some momentum going into our next game," Puryear said. "This game was very exciting, it was a good game to play. I think it lit a fire under us to get more wins in the Big Ten."
Yes, the Boilermakers are focused on adding more tallies to the win column in Big Ten play. But with a few extra days off this week, they're also going to enjoy getting that first conference victory.
For a group that has worked through so much adversity this season, it's something they've earned.
"Just so happy and proud of them," Gearlds said. "When things have been the way they have ... this has not been a team that runs and hides from what they have faced. They've looked it straight in the eyes, they've not gone into a hole. They've owned it, they've accepted it and they just keep working."
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of ''Purdue Boilermakers on SI.'' He has more than a decade of experience covering the Big Ten. Follow Dustin on X at @SchutteDustin.