Purdue Sports Update Dec. 30

WBB Falls in Big Ten Home Opener to Illinois

Despite a better shooting clip and forcing more turnovers, the women’s basketball team could not erase a double-digit deficit in the second half in an 83-73 loss to Illinois on Sunday.

After holding a one-point lead late in the first half, the Boilermakers (8-5, 0-2) fell behind by 14 in the third quarter. Purdue chipped into the gap in the fourth quarter but could not bring the game closer than two possessions.

Sophomore Kendall Puryear tallied the first 20-point performance of her career on 9-of-10 shooting in 20 minutes off the bench. Puryear kept the Boilermakers in striking distance with 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting

Hila Karsh finished with 11 points with four assists, her four straight game in double digits. Lana McCarthy tacked on 10 points on an efficient 5-of-6 shooting with four boards.

Madison Layden-Zay finished in double figures for the third straight game with 13 points to go with three rebounds, three assists and four steals and one block. The fifth year knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to pull within 10 of Karissa McLaughlin’s Purdue career record of 244.

The Boilermakers shot 53.4% from the floor but managed just three 3-pointers on 14 attempts. Led by Karsh and Tara Daye with four assists, Purdue dished out 18 helpers on the afternoon.

Purdue forced 16 turnovers to score 21 points, while Illinois (12-1, 2-0) turned 16 Boilermaker miscues into 23 points. The Illini won the rebounding battel 35-26 and scored 12 second chance points on 10 offensive rebounds to Purdue’s four on six second chance opportunities.

The Boilermakers finished the game 8-of-15 at the line to Illinois’ 25-of-30 clip.

KEY MOMENTS
• Illinois jumped out to an 13-4 lead over the opening four minutes of the game, before Karsh and McCarthy converted back-to-back layups to start a 10-4 run by the Boilermakers that brought the hosts back within three at 17-14.
• The Illini punched back with back-to-back 3-pointers to open a 10-point gap at the end of the first.
• The Boilermakers bounded into the second quarter with a 16-5 run to give them a 34-33 lead with 3:20 to play in the half.
• Layden-Zay had six points in the run as Purdue connected on nine of their first 13 shots in the frame.
• Illinois closed the first half on a 7-4 run with Puryear giving Purdue a pair of hard-fought buckets.
• McCarthy paced Purdue with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting, while Layden-Zay, Daye and Puryear all added six points.
• The Boilermakers shot 54.5% from the field but went 0-of-8 from distance over the opening 20 minutes. Purdue picked up 12 points on 11 Illinois turnovers.
• Even though Purdue shot 50% in the third, Illinois opened a 14-point gap through three quarters after taking the period 27-15.
• The Boilermakers opened the fourth with four straight points to make it a 67-57 game with 8:59 to play.
• Puryear scored the next 12 points for Purdue on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the floor. Defensively, Purdue held Illinois to four points during the sophomore’s run to make it a six-point game with 2:17 to play.
• Purdue made one field the rest of the game, while the Illini extended the gap back to double digits with a perfect 8-of-8 mark at the line in the fourth.

NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series with Illinois 66-20. 
• Daye missed out on her fifth double-double of the year with nine points and nine rebounds.
• The Boilermakers dropped their first game since the start of last year when scoring 70 points or more.
• Layden-Zay played all 40 minutes, her fourth career game with 40 minutes or more. Her last outing was 40 minutes against Illinois on Feb. 4, 2024.
• The fifth year marked her 28th career game with three or more steals.
• The game featured six lead changes and two ties.

UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will close out 2025 with a New Year’s Eve tilt against No. 19 Ohio State on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

Shondell Inks Transfer Lameen Mambu

Outside hitter Lameen “Mimi” Mambu is set to transfer to Purdue, announced by head coach Dave Shondell. Mambu joins the Boilermakers after spending her freshman season at Georgia Tech, where she led the Yellow Jackets’ offense with 345 points and 304 kills.

“What a wonderful Christmas gift to get the commitment from a smart and dynamic student-athlete,” Shondell said. “We’re excited to have this hard-hitting high-flyer join our team after such a strong first season at Georgia Tech where she helped lead them to an NCAA tournament appearance. We watched Mimi play in high school and knew she would be a special player. Mimi learned so much about our program from Kash [Akasha Anderson] and Isabelle Bardin who are good friends from the D.C. area.”

2025 // AS A FRESHMAN AT GEORGIA TECH

• Played in all 30 matches as a freshman, making 25 starts
• Led Georgia Tech’s offense with 345 points, 304 kills and 854 attempts while averaging 2.92 kills per set
• Posted 10 digs, seven kills and two block assists at Purdue in Georgia Tech’s 3-1 win at Purdue (9/3).
• Averaged one dig per set with .46 blocks per set
• Recorded a season-high 17 kills vs. Georgia (9/19)
• Secured a career-high 20 points vs. Arkansas State (8/31), including a career-high 16 digs and 16 kills
• Registered three double-doubles
• Went nearly errorless on the attack in the sweep at Clemson (11/12), posting a .481 attack % behind 14 kills and one error on 27 swings
• Saw at least 20 attacks in 25 matches and 40 attacks in four matches
• Served up four aces in the season-opener vs. Wofford (8/29), a career-high
• Totaled 14 kills, second-most on the team, along with four digs and a block assist in the five set loss to UCLA in the NCAA First Round

HIGH SCHOOL

• Spent four years playing at Chantilly High School
• A three-time District Player of the Year award winner (2022-2024)
• Three-time All-State First Team honoree (2022-2024)
• Four-time All-Region First Team honoree (2021-2024)
• Led her to team to become three-time District Champions (2021, 2022, 2024) and two-time Regional Champions (2022 And 2024)
• 2025 Under Armor Next Volleyball All-American competitor
• Won a silver medal with the United States U19 National Team during the summer of 2025