WEST LAFAYETTE – How appropriate it was for 6-foot-7 freshman center Avery Gordon to deliver the moment that thousands of young fans came to see.
Score 67 points and have Mackey Arena erupt on Education Day in front of students from Hershey, Attica, Dayton, Howard, Woodland and Van Rensselaer Elementary School and Sunnyside Intermediate, Klondike, Wainright, Wea Ridge Middle School students.
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Gordon received a lob pass from fellow freshman Hila Karsh and, with her left hand, laid the ball in gracefully and gave Purdue the lead 67-28 against Lipscomb at the 2:05 third-quarter mark.
Gearlds called a timeout to give the pupils more time to scream and shout.
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Even better for Gearlds and Purdue was the win it gained four days after being embarrassed on the road by No. 8 Michigan 104-56.
“We got the 6-7 girl to score the 67th point to call a timeout, and we did what we were supposed to do,” Gearlds said. “It’s fun. Hopefully, those kids had fun. The first half was really fun to watch, and hopefully, they bring their parents back. I’ll call another timeout at sixty-seven if they keep coming back.”
Purdue Freshman Avery Gordon (55) versus Eastern Illinois center Abbie Boutilier during the NCAA women’s basketball game between the Eastern Illinois Panthers at the Purdue Boilermakers, Thursday Nov. 6, 2025, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue won 82-67
Purdue (6-4, 0-1 Big Ten Conference) hopes to see more positive moments during its three-game homestand that continues with a matchup against Dayton (5-4) on Sunday at noon.
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“It’s really about us and focusing on us and it’s going to be about us no matter who we play,” Gearlds said. “Michigan is really good and we did some really good things on Sunday. We just have to keep building on those moments.
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Gordon scored nine points with a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, redshirt junior Tara Daye led with 18 points and 11 rebounds, junior Kiki Smith scored 13 points and sophomore Lana McCarthy and freshman Hila Karsh each had 10 points.
“The first half here was really good, the second half not so much as far as what we were trying to do. Bottle up the first half and then turn that into a 40-minute game,” Gearlds said. “We have to get work in, we’ve got a really good Dayton team coming in and have to put together a 40-minute game together.”
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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 trying to find a competitive spark
