Purdue Sports Update March 28
BOILERMAKERS ROLL TO WNIT WIN AT BUTLER, HOST DUQUESNE
A career-high 15 points from Mila Reynolds and two 20-point quarters in middle periods guided the Purdue women’s basketball team to a 62-51 win over Butler on Monday night in the second round of the WNIT.
The win marked the 50th for head coach Katie Gearlds back at her alma mater.
Reynolds entered the night with just three career made 3-poitners. On Monday, the South Bend native connected four times from the outside on a 5-of-8 shooting night in just 17 minutes of action.
Jayla Smith reached double figures for the first time since November with 11 points to go with five rebounds and a steal over 20 minutes on the floor. Abbey Ellis tallied 10 points for her ninth straight game in double figures.
With her second rebound of the night in the first quarter,Jeanae Terry crossed the 1,000-rebound mark for her career. She became the first player in the history of Big Ten men’s or women’s basketball to record 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 700 assists in a career.
Terry posted her typical stat line of four points, 12 rebounds, five assists, four steals and one block. The Detroit native passed herself for second in Purdue’s single-season assists with 192 on the year.
The Boilermakers shot 46.6% from the field and went 6-of-15 from distance. A trio of Boilermakers finished with four or more assists, topped by Terry’s five. Mary Ashley Stevenson set a career high with four times as she finished with eight points and four rebounds.
Terry gave Purdue an early start with four points in the first quarter. Both sides traded blows in the opening 10 minutes with five different Boilermakers scoring. Butler held a 13-11 lead after the first.
After back-to-back baskets from Stevenson and Smithto start the second, Butler (15-17) built up a seven-point gap with 3:56 to play in the opening half. Reynoldsconnected twice from behind the arc to start a 12-2 run to close the half. Sophie Swanson tallied the Boilermakers’ final four points to give Purdue a 31-28 lead at the break.
Two minutes into the third after Butler leveled the score at 33-33, Purdue rolled off 10 straight points. Stevenson bookended the run with a pair of contested layups to give Purdue a 10-point lead with 5:37 to play. Purdue made four of its six 3-point attempts in the third with a pair from Reynolds to give the Boilermakers a 51-39 lead with 10 minutes to play.
Alaina Harper finished inside to start the fourth to open a 14-point gap. Butler responded with a 12-2 run that cut the gap down to four points with 4:52 to play, before Ellis sank a floater in the lane. The Boilermakers closed the game out on a seven-point swing. The Boilermakers held Butler to 0-of-5 from the field to close the game and forced five turnovers in the final period.
Purdue will host Duquesne in the Super 16 of the WNIT on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Ticket information will be available on Tuesday.
NO. 33-RANKED BOILERMAKERS FINISH 3RD AT HOOTIE AT BULLS BAY
The No. 33-ranked Purdue men’s golf team put the finishing touches on a strong performance at the Hootie at Bulls Bay, finishing third out of 15 teams.
The Boilermakers put some pressure on the leaders midway through the round, but couldn’t narrow the gap and finished third, eight shots behind LSU and two shots behind No. 19-ranked New Mexico. Purdue totaled a 7-under par 857 with rounds of 298-272-287.
Purdue did score big head-to-head wins over No. 16-ranked East Tennessee State, No. 35-ranked Missouri, and No. 59-ranked South Carolina.
Leading the attack was senior Nick Dentino, who finished tied for fourth at 5-under par 211 (72-67-72). It marked his second career top-five finish and his first top-20 finish of the season. Dentino finished one shot off medalist honors.
Herman Sekne continued his strong season with another top-20 finish, placing tied for 12th at 2-under par 214 (76-66-72). Fourteen of Sekne’s 20 rounds this season have been even- or under-par, and he owns five top-20 finishes in seven events.
Nels Surtani was the third Boilermaker on the counting team in the top 20, finishing tied for 19th at even-par 216 (75-70-71). The performance was Surtani’s third top-20 showing of the season.
Freshman Sam Easterbrook finished tied for 34th at 3-over par 219 (75-69-75), while Kent Hsiao was tied for 45th at 6-over par 222 (76-74-72).
Playing as an individual, Peyton Snoeberger tied for 12th at 2-under par 214 (71-74-69).
The Boilermakers’ next action will come in two weeks, when it heads to Naples, Florida, for the elite Calusa Cup.
WRESTLING ENDS 2023-24 SEASON ON DAY 2 AT NCAAS
Purdue Wrestling concluded its run at the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships on Friday, ending its 2023-24 season.
Loses on the day for Matt Ramos and Greyson Clark means the Boilermakers will not wrestle on into Saturday in Kansas City. The team finishes with 2.5 points at the national tournament.
The No. 4 seed Ramos wrestled two tight matches, but was unable to come up with the clutch takedown that has become a staple of his game. He dropped his quarterfinal match to No. 12 Anthony Noto 4-1 in sudden victory before coming up just short against No. 2 Luke Stanich 4-0 in the bloodround.
The 2023 All-American and NCAA finalist finishes his season with a 28-8 record (13-1 dual), 13 ranked wins, and 12 bonus point wins. He will return for his senior season in 2024-25 holding an 84-23 career record, within striking distance of multiple Purdue top-10 all time lists.
The true-freshman Clark wrestled well in his debut appearance in the NCAA tournament, but came up short on Friday morning in a 6-0 decision loss to No. 11 Josh Koderhandt of Navy. He wraps his first year in the old gold and black as the team leader in back points with a bright future ahead.
BOILERMAKERS ACCOUNT FOR 3 OF TOP 8 ON PLATFORM AT NCAAS AGAIN
Daryn Wright, Maycey Vieta and Sophie McAfee all claimed All-America honors in platform diving as the Purdue Divers accounted for three of the eight championship finalists on the tower at the NCAA Championships for the second time in four years.
Wright finished fifth, Vieta sixth and McAfee eighth while competing for the national title in the event. The Purdue women also had accounted for three of the top eight in 2021, with Vieta being part of both trios. The Purdue men achieved the feat in platform diving in 2011 and 2015 as well.
The divers accounted for 57 team points to help the Boilermakers finish 18th at the NCAA Championships. It was Purdue’s best showing since 2010 (16th). The women were top 25 at NCAAs for the 14th time since 2005. Only Texas (77) scored more points than the Boilermakers in the diving events this week.
McAfee joined LSU’s Monsterrat Lavenant as the only divers at NCAAs this year to finish top eight in both a springboard (3-meter) event and the platform. McAfee was fourth on 3-meter Friday. She’s now a four-time All-American and just the Boilermakers’ fourth female diver to be a full-fledged (top 8) All-American on a springboard and the platform in the same year – joining Carrie McCambridge (2005), Amanda Miller (2007) and Emily Bretscher (2021).
Vieta closed out her college career as a four-year All-American on the tower. She was a championship finalist in the event in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Jaye Patrick and Jenna Sonnenberg also closed their college careers Saturday in the prelim as Purdue accounted for five of the 43 divers in the event field.
Wright earned her first career full-fledged All-America accolade while accounting for Purdue’s second top-five finish of the week. The sophomore was also an honorable mention All-American on 3-meter Friday.
Only the top three finishers in the championship final improved on their prelim scores in the finals session. Vieta was in second place, just two points behind the leader, entering round 4 but a poor finish over the final two rounds took her out of medal contention. Wright finished strong with the top-scoring dive of the fifth and final round, but her scores in rounds 3 and 4 kept her out of a medalist finish.
Vieta has already qualified for the Olympic Games on 10-meter for Puerto Rico. McAfee and Wright will compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June. Vieta, Wright and Patrick all competed at the World Aquatics Championships earlier this year.
McAfee and Wright will headline Purdue’s returning student-athletes for the 2024-25 NCAA season.
WOMEN’S TENNIS SPLITS CONFERENCE MATCHES
No. 59 Purdue defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 4-0 Saturday, earning the second Big Ten victory of the season.
First to win in doubles were Ashlie Wilson/Juana Larranaga at No. 3. The pair defeated Penn State’s Jordina Cegarra/Alina Lebedeva 6-4. To clinch the doubles point for the Boilermakers, Tara Katarina Milic/Carmen Gallardo Guevara beat No. 69 Karly Friedland/Olivia Dorner. At the one spot, the pair claimed a 7-5 victory. When the doubles point was called for Purdue, Csilla Fodor/Kennedy Gibbs were battling at No. 2, leaving the match unfinished at 5-5.
The Boilermakers took a quick lead in singles with five players each winning their first set. At No. 3, senior Csilla Fodor claimed the first singles victory for Purdue, going 6-0, 6-4. Tara Katarina Milic earned the second singles point for the Boilers with her 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 5. To complete the sweep, Juana Larranaga bested the Nittany Lions’ Jordina Cegarra in two straight sets, finishing 6-3, 6-4.
Women’s tennis was bested by No. 13 Ohio State 4-0.
Ohio State took the doubles point. At No. 2, Kennedy Gibbs/Csilla Fodor faced the No. 71 doubles pair of Audrey Spencer/Luciana Perry. When the point was called, Tara Katarina Milic/Carmen Gallardo Guevara were battling at No. 1 against Irina Cantos/Sydni Ratliff. The match was left unfinished at 4-4.
Three Boilermakers faced ranked singles opponents. At No. 1, Carmen Gallardo Guevara battled No. 12 Irina Cantos Siemers. Kennedy Gibbs played No. 41 Luciana Perry at No. 2. At No. 3, Csilla Fodor brawled with No. 118 Sydni Ratliff. Both Gibbs and Fodor claimed the first set against ranked opponents, going 7-5 and 6-4, respectively. Gibbs’ battle was left at 3-3 in the second set when the match was called for Ohio State. Csilla Fodor and Ashlie Wilson at No. 6 both had to leave the singles match unfinished.
Purdue will travel next to East Lansing, Mich. on Saturday, March 30 at noon for a match against the Michigan State Spartans.
BASEBALL DROPS THREE OF FOUR
Jordan Morales struck out nine over seven innings of one-run ball to outpitch Iowa’s All-American and lead Purdue to its seventh consecutive victory in a Big Ten opener 10-3 Friday at Alexander Field.
The Boilermakers (16-7, 1-0 Big Ten) scored six times over five innings against Brody Brecht (0-1) after the highly touted righthander had surrendered just six runs in 23 1/3 innings this season entering the day. Purdue plated three runs in both the first and fourth innings.
Morales (4-2) struck out seven of the final 10 batters he faced, including the last five – punching out the 6-7-8 hitters in order in the seventh inning to punctuate his quality start. The lefty worked three 1-2-3 innings total.
Mike Bolton Jr. led the way offensively with a 3-for-4 day, coming around to score all four times he reached base safely. The one through five portion of the Boilermakers’ lineup was 10-for-18 with seven free passes (5 walks, 2 HBP), seven RBI and eight runs scored.
Luke Gaffney connected for a two-run homer and Ty Gill delivered a game-tying RBI triple, but Iowa broke the stalemate with a run in the seventh inning and held on to defeat Purdue 4-3 Saturday at Alexander Field.
The Boilermakers (16-8, 1-1 Big Ten) left the bases loaded in the eighth inning and Mike Bolton Jr. was robbed of at least a triple when center fielder Kyle Huckstorf made a stellar catch with his back to home plate to open the bottom of the ninth.
The Hawkeyes (12-10, 1-1 Big Ten) out hit the home team 14-5 but Purdue still had an opportunity to take the lead in the eighth inning. Logan Sutter, Couper Cornblum and Jo Stevens all reached base with one out to load the bases. Iowa went to the bullpen for righthander Jack Young and the sidearmer retired a pair of lefthanded hitters – Gill and pinch hitter Aaron Dolney – to keep his team in front.
Iowa’s consecutive four-run frames across the fifth and sixth innings allowed the visitors to surge ahead and ultimately take the rubber game of the weekend series with Purdue Baseball 9-6 Sunday at Alexander Field.
The Boilermakers (16-9, 1-2 Big Ten) closed out their season-long 13-game homestand with a 8-5 record, dropping four of the last five after a 7-1 start. They committed a season-high four errors Sunday after making just nine over the first 12 games of the homestand.
Jonathan Blackwell was solid through four innings, limiting the Hawkeyes (13-10, 2-1 Big Ten) to one run on four hits. But Iowa scored nine times against the Purdue bullpen. Carter Doorn’s three innings of hitless relief finally stabilized things. But by the time Doorn took the mound with a runner on second in the seventh inning, the visitors had already opened up a 9-3 lead.
Purdue Baseball responded from a six-run inning with tallies in the sixth and eighth innings to pull even, but Indiana State scored the go-ahead run in the bottom half of the eighth and then escaped a bases-load jam in the ninth to take the midweek thriller 8-7 Tuesday.
Luke Gaffney hit a three-run homer in the first inning and reached base safely in all five of his plate appearances. He walked to load the bases in the ninth inning. But ISU closer Simon Gregersen saved the game with a strikeout and game-ending 6-4-3 double play to keep the tying run from scoring.
The Boilermakers (16-10) led 5-1 when the home team awoke with six consecutive productive plate appearances in its six-run fifth inning, sending 10 men to plate with a game-changing rally. Connor Hicks and Grant Magill accounted for five of the runs with homers to right field on a day in which the wind was howling out to right.
The Boilermakers are back in action Friday when they open a three-game Big Ten series at Ohio State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET live on Big Ten Network.
SOFTBALL SWEPT IN BIG TEN OPENER
It was a frigid, windy day in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for Purdue’s Big Ten season-opener, which ended with a 0-7 shutout for Michigan to take the series opener.
The Boilermakers (12-15) recorded three hits in the outing. Sage Scarmardo notched a double to center field, secured thanks to a diving effort to beat out the tag. Tyrina Jones registered Purdue’s second hit in the sixth inning on a shot through the left side and Moriah Polar followed in the seventh inning with a rip through the right side.
With Scarmardo’s double, the sophomore increased her hitting streak to 15 consecutive games.
In total, Purdue was out-hit 3-11 in the Boilermakers’ first game in Ann Arbor in eight years (last away game came in 2018).
Despite a hot start for the Boilermakers which saw three runs, including a two-run homer by Tyrina Jones in the first inning, Purdue dropped Game 2 at Michigan, 3-11 in five innings.
After Purdue Khloe Banks scored a run on a single by Ashlynn Campbell, Tyrina Jones blasted one beyond the left center field wall for the 3-0 lead, Michigan responded with eight runs in the bottom of the frame.
The Boilermakers totaled six hits in the game, half of which came after the first inning. Four runners were left stranded for Purdue and the Boilermakers made three errors.
The Boilermakers put the pressure on early as Moriah Polar led off the game with a triple through the right side, leading Purdue to a 1-0 advantage. Despite a one-run ball game until the bottom of the sixth inning, ultimately Purdue (12-17. 0-3) fell to Michigan (20-11, 3-0), 2-6.
The Boilermakers posted four hits in the outing, thanks to Polar, Sage Scarmardo, Kylie Franks and Ryen Ross. Meanwhile, the Wolverines totaled nine. The difference-maker came in Michigan’s two home runs, the first recorded in the second inning to tie the game, 1-1, while a three-run shot sealed the game in the sixth inning.
Freshman pitcher Julia Gossett (4-6) tossed the first 5.2 innings, surrendering six runs and nine hits. The Boilermaker struck out two batters before Kendall Klochack closed the game, facing the final Wolverine.
Purdue returns to Bittinger Stadium for the Big Ten home opener this weekend vs. Rutgers. The series, running Friday at 5 p.m. ET, Saturday at 2 p.m. ET and Sunday at 1 p.m. ET will all be streamed on B1G+. Admission is free for all Purdue softball home games.
USA VOLLEYBALL TAPS BOURIL FOR COACHING STAFF
Purdue volleyball assistant coach Michael Bouril was selected by USA Volleyball to serve as the U.S. Women’s Collegiate National Team performance analyst. He is scheduled to be in Anaheim, California with the squad June 30 through July 6.
The nod marks the second straight year Bouril has been picked up by USA Volleyball, having contributed to the U21 men’s national team in the same role a year ago.
Moreover, he is the third Boilermaker in three months to be tapped by USA Volleyball, joining middle blocker Lourdès Myers (Women’s National Team Open Program) and outside hitter Eva Hudson (Women’s National Team Spring Training Camp).
Bouril is entering his second year as assistant coach for Purdue and joined the Boilermaker program June 29, 2020, first joining the staff as graduate assistant before taking on the role of technical coordinator & performance analyst a year ago.
