The look of frustration on the face of Purdue women’s basketball coach Katie Gearlds’ face told the story.
After another game where Purdue threw everything it had at its opponent, the Boilermakers fell just short Saturday afternoon at Mackey Arena against #12 ranked Ohio State, 71-68.
“Honestly, I thought everybody stepped up and had a really positive impact on the game. We cannot guard Ohio State man to man. They have three pro’s on the floor. Our commitment to what we wanted to do in the zone was really good. We were committed to doing what we needed to do, but they made one more play than we did,” Gearlds said after the loss.
With the loss, Purdue drops to 9-11, 2-7 and endured its sixth straight loss.
“We were committed to making sure Purdue won, and it’s a tall task against a really good basketball team that could probably win our league and make a deep run. Hopefully another step in the right direction. We lost by three and it’s not good enough. Losing sucks. We have to find a way to win a ball game,” Gearlds said.
The Buckeyes opened the game on a 7-0 run but Purdue managed to settle in and battle Ohio State, who held a 20-19 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, the Boilermakers were unable to get the best of the Buckeyes in the first half, as Ohio State took a 33-27 lead into the locker room.
Boilermakers make several runs in second half
In the second half, Purdue established itself from behind the three point arc, shooting over 50 percent with five threes and outscoring Ohio State, 41-38. The spark was the result of solid play from Abbey Ellis, who scored five straight points to help Purdue take a 34-33 advantage. Ohio State would respond with a run of its own, going ahead 48-41 late in the third quarter.
Ohio State, who went scoreless over the final 4:36 of the contest, saw a nine point lead dwindle down to one possession twice in the contest. With 21 seconds left, Purdue trailed 67-65 and in the closing seconds, Ellis’ three point heave fell short.
Ellis finished with 14 points and a season high four three pointers. Freshmen Mary Ashley Stevenson and Rashunda Jones had quite a performance for Purdue. Jones finished with 13 points, three rebounds and two assists, while Stevenson finished with 12 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes.
The Buckeyes were paced by Rebeka Mikulasikova’s 15 points, while Cotie McMahon added 10 points and 12 rebounds for Ohio State.
Purdue will look to snap its losing streak Wednesday when it travels to Nebraska.
“January 2 was the last time we won and that is the only thing on my mind. We haven’t won since Jan. 2. Losing is not great. Our team is still living in the moment and believe they can win. It’s not like we come to practice and half ass anything. This group works hard, they bought into our game plan and believe. We have had a terrible stretch. Our last three home games were against Top 15 teams. It’s been a stretch, and we understand that is the Big Ten,” Gearlds said.
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