No. 8 Ohio State 98, Purdue women's basketball 46: Worst loss in program history
Sunday's 52-point loss surpasses UConn's 50-point win over the Boilermakers in 2008
Thoughts from Sunday’s blowout loss at Value City Arena:
‣ Not a lot to say,. They’ve flirted with this mark throughout the season. Notre Dame. South Carolina. UCLA. USC. All had an opportunity to beat the Boilermakers by more than 50 points. The Gamecocks nearly got it done, winning by 48. The Women of Troy and the Fighting Irish won by 42 points at Mackey Arena. It finally happened Sunday as the Buckeyes overwhelmed Katie Gearlds’ team from the opening tip, a common theme on the road this season. Purdue trailed 13-0 on Sunday, one week after falling behind 20-2 at Indiana.
‣ What’s next? Purdue will keep playing because the schedule hasn’t ended yet. There’s still a chance to make the Big Ten tournament as strange as it seems. No more elite teams in the final week. An equally bad Penn State team on the road Thursday and Indiana coming to town. The Boilermakers need a victory over the Lady Lions to stay alive and for PSU to beat Rutgers. A win over Indiana would help the cause, but it likely won’t matter if Purdue loses Thursday.
‣ Can Gearlds push the right buttons to find a Big Ten road victory? That’s the question. Purdue will have to do something it hasn’t done throughout the Big Ten season - win on the road. The average margin of defeat in league road games is 25.1 points. Penn State isn’t among the best or average teams in the conference, but the Boilermakers don’t scare anyone in the Big Ten. The Lady Lions face Purdue and Rutgers, which are winnable games. Maybe PSU sneaks into the league tournament during the final week.
‣ Wisconsin won its fourth Big Ten game on Sunday and should be secure in landing a spot. However, there are still some scenarios that could play out to create a four-way tie. Although the Badgers host UCLA and travel to Iowa, who will match their four conference wins? Only Purdue, Rutgers, and Northwestern can catch Wisconsin.
The standings at the bottom of the league:
No. 14: Wisconsin 4-12
No. 15: Northwestern 2-13*
No. 16: Purdue 2-14
No. 17: Rutgers 2-15
No. 18: Penn State 1-15
*The Wildcats are short two games because they didn’t travel to Los Angeles to play UCLA and USC in January due to the wildfires. The Big Ten has yet to announce if those games will be forfeited. This certainly impacts the standings. There’s been plenty of time for the league to determine what’s next. They’re hoping it doesn’t matter but it appears the postponed game are going to play a factor. Time for the Big Ten to do what’s right.
MORE: Box score |
‣ Regarding Sunday’s game, round up the usual suspects. Turnovers, poor shooting, continued struggles in defensive transition, and defending the 3-point line.
The Buckeyes outscored the Boilermakers by 27 points on 3-point shots. Chance Gray made five 3-pointers for a team averaging 5.3 during Big Ten play before Sunday. OSU made 14.
“They came out and shot as well as they've shot it all year,” Gearlds said on her postgame radio show. '“Whether we were in man or zone, wanted to try to be heavy in gaps and make them see bodies and spray it out. We talked a lot about the difference between a short and a soft close-out. Some players, we wanted our closeouts to be a little bit harder than they were.”
Ohio State was plus-25 in points off turnovers (35-10). Purdue committed 10 more turnovers.
“The press gave us fits in the sense that every time we did turn it over in the first half, they scored on it,” Gearlds said. “When we did break it, I thought we got layups at the rim that we missed and then some open shots that we missed.”
The Buckeyes held a 13-0 advantage in fastbreak points.
The team’s scoring and turnover percentages (28.8) were the same. They averaged 0.630 points per possession compared to 1.34 for OSU.
‣ Kendall Puryear saw her five-game streak of reaching double figures end. She had seven points on 3 of 7 shooting.
‣ Amiyah Reynolds played for the first time since Jan. 30 against Nebraska. She logged eight minutes.
‣ McKenna Layden (ankle) wasn’t available after receiving an injection on Friday.
“This is kind of the story of our Big Ten year, but no excuses,” Gearlds said. “We are who we are, and we have what we have, and we'll try to put it together to find a way to win one on the road.”
It’s time to look at the coach’s record
Wow ! What do I say after this one—we have the same complaint as we had with the football—they don’t compete— there is nothing else—and I don’t understand why. You played B-ball all your life and now you can’t— can’t pass—can’t dribble— the basics— where did it all go— how can that happen— errors galore— its a way of life with this team— you will never get better if you can not do the basics and every game get a little better at it. This season is long— a lot of practices and can I say that they are any better ?— NO!!! We have players from freshman to 5th year seniors—- no difference—Katie— what is the reason ? The feeling that I have going forward is bleak —- please change that for me and all your fans— just compete— I don’t ask anymore —- the one thing that I have said over and over— I feel that we have a team that can be successful and will compete— all they have to do is COMPETE— thank you for listening to me— Ed from Wanamaker—- GO BOILERS__ SHOW US THAT YOU CAN —- HAMMER DOWN !!