Penn State women’s basketball (10-18, 1-16 Big Ten) lost to Purdue (10-18, 3-14 Big Ten) 92-85 on Senior Day in the Bryce Jordan Center.

The Boilermakers led the stat column in almost every category on Friday. Gabby Elliott’s 32-point Senior Day performance could not push the Lady Lions to a win as they were eliminated from Big Ten Tournament contention. Sophie Swanson lit up the Lady Lions from behind the arc, finishing the game 5-for-6 from deep. Rashunda Jones added 29 points for the Boilermakers, securing the victory.

How It Happened

Off the tip, Gabby Elliott drew the foul and opened the scoring, making one shot from the line. Elliott got another opportunity inside, cashing in on the layup under three minutes in

Purdue’s Destini Lombard came down the court and hit the 10-foot mid-range pull-up to bring the lead back down to two.

Elliott caught on fire early, scoring the Lady Lions’ first six points of the ballgame to lead.

An Elliott euro-step in transition gave the Lady Lions a 10-4 lead early.

No. 0 is on FIRE

5:39 Q1 | 10-4 Penn State #LionMentality x @gabbyy5_ pic.twitter.com/6ANdXhERKm

— Penn State Women's Basketball (@PennStateWBB) February 27, 2025

Jones responded at the other end with a deep two of her own. Penn State led 10-6 going into the first media timeout.

Out of the timeout, Swanson hit back-to-back three-pointers and then forced a turnover, creating an easy layup to take a four-point lead for the Boilermakers.

Swanson finished the first quarter scoring Purdue’s last 10 points, but Alli Campbell hit a deep corner two to end the quarter and bring the Lady Lions within one.

Lombard started the second quarter for the Boilermakers, hitting a mid-range jump shot. Hall responded with a layup inside.

Cambell fouled Jones on her way up, and she secured both free throws.

Lombard hit a layup from Jones, then Lombard set up on the wing and knocked down the three-point jumper, extending the lead to double-digits for the Boilermakers.

Swanson picked Shaelyn Steele’s pocket, then drove hard to the hoop, giving Purdue a 12-point lead going into the media timeout.

The Lady Lions ended their 4:03 scoring drought with a pair of free throws from Campbell.

Swanson stayed hot, hitting another three off of a Lady Lions turnover.

Elliott was fed a beauty off the inbound, and put in the layup. Next time down the court, Campbell found her for a wide-open three.

Swanson connected on a nifty reverse layup to extend the lead to 13, with under two minutes remaining in the first half of play.

Jones hit a layup to bring the lead back to 13 for Purdue, but Tamera Johnson responded with a turnaround layup of her own to close the half. Purdue led 41-30 at the intermission.

Jones opened the scoring in the second half with a layup. Elliott responded with a three of her own off an offensive rebound.

Elliott hit Grace Hall at the top of the key for three, and then Merkle dished Campbell inside on back-to-back plays, creating two easy layups of her own to cut the Boilermakers lead to just three.

The Boilermakers responded with a few layups and three of their own, and just like that the lead was back up to 11.

Ella Collier sunk the three-pointer with four minutes remaining in the quarter, but Jayla Oden came right back and hit a three of her own, bringing the Boilermaker lead back within single digits.

Swish.

2:36 Q3 | 56-47 Purdue#LionMentality x @JaylaOden pic.twitter.com/AxES2KTjqI

— Penn State Women's Basketball (@PennStateWBB) February 28, 2025

Swanson came down and hit her fifth three of the night, extending the lead back to 12.

Hall secured her own offensive rebound and put back the layup for the and-one. Hall then hit a three at the end of the quarter, finishing the period down 61-54.

Lana McCarthy opened the scoring in the fourth with a layup, but Hall immediately responded with a three. Swanson and Merkle then traded buckets inside.

Elliott banked one off the backboard and in, bringing the Lady Lions within five. Jones poked the ball free from Vitoria Santana and capitalized on the other end for the Boilermakers.

Madison Layden dished Collier in the corner for a three, who sunk it and extended the Boilermakers’ lead to 13.

Elliott sunk a late three to try and gain momentum, but Jones ended all hopes with an and-one on the next play.

Takeaways

• Turnovers were crucial in this game, as the Lady Lions never escaped their early deficit while turning the ball over 17 times.
• Purdue had no problems breaking the Lady Lions’ full-court press, leaving players uncontested at the other end for easy buckets.
• Penn State is officially eliminated from postseason contention with Thursday’s loss. The Senior Day defeat capped off a long, difficult stretch of Big Ten play for Carolyn Kieger’s squad.

What’s Next?

Penn State heads to Piscataway to take on Rutgers in the final game of the season at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 2, at the Jersey Mike’s Arena. Folks can tune in on BTN+.