The Indiana Hoosiers (11-10, 0-9) fell 80-69 to the Purdue Boilermakers (11-9, 3-6) as the Hoosier Women’s basketball nightmare season continued in West Lafayette. IU lost the Barn Burner Trophy for the first time since 2016.
Indiana got off to a solid start in the first quarter as the Hoosiers led 15-11 behind the efforts of Lenee Beaumont and Shay Ciezki who scored all of IU’s points. IU was without center Zania Socka-Ngumen who missed the game with a lower leg injury. The Hoosiers led, but the warning signs for something worse was there.
In the first quarter IU turned the ball over five times and the only players to put the ball through the hoop were Beaumont and Ciezki.
With nearly a foot of snow on the ground in most of Indiana, the Hoosiers were buried in the second quarter as Purdue’s avalanche put IU in a 41-29 hole heading into half time. The Hoosiers have fallen pray to these runs before and a 19-2 run changed the tide of this rivalry game.
In the doomed second quarter the Boilermakers shot 10-11 from the field including 5-6 from three-point range. The Hoosiers did not help their cause committing six fouls and turning the ball over six times. Purdue scored 19 points off of 11 first half Hoosier turnovers.
The Hoosiers found their footing in the second half, outscoring Purdue 40-39, but the second quarter meltdown was more than enough to keep the Hoosiers out of real striking distance all day. Purdue led for nearly 30 minutes.
For the game, IU turned the ball over 20 times leading to 27 Purdue points. The Boilermakers bench also outscored the Hoosiers 35-9
The Hoosiers were led by Ciezki’s 37 points while Beaumont added 13. They were the only Hoosiers to score in double figures. The Boilermakers six players score at least eight points and were led by Nya Smith’s 13.