Purdue women’s basketball falls to No. 19 ranked Ohio State

LAFAYETTE ― Disfunction and a tune all too familiar with Purdue women’s basketball settled in against Ohio State at Mackey Arena Wednesday, Dec. 31.

The Boilermakers wilted to the pressure defense of Ohio State, and any hope of an upset were quickly erased. The No. 19-ranked Buckeyes slid its feet quicker and harder, hit shots and maintained the 25-10 lead built in the opening eight minutes of the first quarter.

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Sophomore Jaloni Campbell scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished seven assists while the Buckeyes forced 26 turnovers and overpowered Purdue 83-56 on Wednesday afternoon.

Junior Kennedy Cambridge added 16 points and four assists, Chance Gray scored 14 points (6-12 FG) and sophomore Ava Watson added 13 points for Ohio State (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten Conference).

“It starts with locking in, and we have to be better,” Purdue senior Madison Layden-Zay said. “We didn’t have a great practice (Tuesday), and that comes down to us bringing energy, locking in on the scout. We have to have better starts. We can’t be down 9-2 at the beginning of the game.”

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New Year’s Eve marked the 20th consecutive loss by Purdue (8-6, 0-3 Big Ten Conference) to a ranked opponent, 13 of those by double figures.

A rough day at Mackey Arena was made more sour after Purdue forward Saige Stahl collided with Ohio State players midway through the fourth quarter and had to be helped off the court by trainers.

“She was in a lot of pain, and we’ll trust the medical staff to figure out what it is and go from there,” Purdue coach Katie Gearlds said.

Junior Kiki Smith was also not at full strength. She played, but has battled sickness and has limited in practice between games.

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“Hopefully we get her a day where she doesn’t have to do anything,” Gearlds said. “Get some fluids. We got to find a way to help Kiki get through this because we need her on the floor scoring.”

The efforts of Layden-Zay weren’t enough to ignite any momentum found from its competitive, but latest shortcoming to Illinois from last Sunday.

Layden-Zay finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and three steals and came within one 3-pointer of tying Gearlds for the third most in program history.

Gearlds believes Layden-Zay will be the voice to help pull Purdue out of its 2-game losing streak. Gearlds said it also starts with building confidence against teams like Ohio State, who bring pressure and play physical.

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Ohio State committed 25 fouls to Purdue’s 13 while applying ball pressure and forced bad shots.

“We worked on trying to get two feet in the paint and kickout threes,” Gearlds said. “The first time Hila (Karsh) got the ball in the paint, she tried to shoot over 6-foot-6 (Kylee Kitts). It doesn’t work. When you break a press and you want to get to the paint, you want to get another paint touch, keep it moving and we didn’t do a good enough job of that.”

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Purdue will slog into 2026 tied for last in the Big Ten Conference.

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Sophomore Nya Smith added 11 points, and junior Tara Daye scored 10 points for the Boilermakers.

“They just played with a lot of energy and hustle, and we have to capitalize when they miss opportunities,” Smith said.

Purdue now hits the road for two games. They will face Nebraska on Sunday, Jan. 4 at 3 p.m. followed by a matchup with Wisconsin on Thursday, Jan. 8 at 7:30 p.m. before returning home to face Washington at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 11.

Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at ehanson@jconline.com, on Twitter at EthanAHanson and Instagram at  ethan_a_hanson.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue women’s basketball falls to No. 19 ranked Ohio State