by WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – In a must-win game to reach the Big Ten Tournament, the Purdue women’s basketball team picked up 67-62 win on the road over Northwestern. It was Purdue’s first win in a regular-season finale since defeating Northwestern in 2017.
Purdue’s trio of guards – Nya Smith, Kiki Smith and Tara Daye – powered the Boilermakers to the tune of 51 points, seven 3-pointers, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and eight steals.
For the 20th time this season, Tara Daye posted a double-digit performance with 18 points, falling two rebounds shy of a double-double and adding a pair of steals.
Kiki Smith knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to lead to 17 points to go with a trio of steals. Nya Smith went for 16 points, including a pair of triples, a career-high seven assists and three steals.
Lana McCarthy was the fourth Boilermaker in double figures with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Purdue (13-16, 5-13) flipped 21 Northwestern (8-21, 2-16) turnovers into a season-high 32 points, its second game with 30-plus points off turnovers. While the Boilermakers committed 17 turnovers, the defense surrendered just 12 points off miscues. Purdue tallied 12 steals for their ninth game with double-digit takeaways this season.
Purdue dished out 16 assists on 24 field goals.
For the game, Purdue shot 42.1% from the floor and went 5-of-23 from behind the arc. The Wildcats were 43.4% from the field and 6-of-17 from distance.
