NASSAU, The Bahamas — Despite holding Florida to 52 points and 31.6% shooting, the Purdue women's basketball team could not find its rhythm offensively in a 52-49 loss at the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship.
Purdue (2-2) had a trop of players finish in double figures, led by Abbey Ellis' 14 points. Jayla Smith chipped in 13 points off the bench and Caitlyn Harper battled inside for 12 points.
Led by a career-high six rebounds from freshman Mary Ashley Stevenson, the Boilermakers won the rebounding battle 40-37. Purdue scored 15 points off 14 Florida (4-1) giveaways. Purdue was 18-of-57 from the field and went 2-of-22 (9.1) from behind the arc.
Purdue struggled on the offensive end in the first half shooting 26.5% from the field and missing their first 12 3-point attempts. Harper kept the Boilermakers close with six points over the opening 20 minutes. Ellis tallied eight points with six coming in the final two minutes as a part of a personal 6-2.
Despite the efforts on the offensive end, Purdue never trailed by more than seven points and trailed 26-22 at the break.
Purdue started to connect in the third, making six of its 11 shots. Smith and Ellis evenly split 12 points in the frame. Florida extended its advantage to a game-high 12 points midway through the quarter, before the Boilermakers went on a 14-2 run to tie the game.
In the fourth, the Boilermakers kept the momentum going when Stevenson scored Purdue's first four points. Harper made a contested layup with five minutes to play to give the Boilermakers their first lead of the game at 46-42. Florida closed the game on an 8-3 run with Purdue's lone basket coming on a Smith 3-pointer with 1:24 to play.
Ellis had a game-tying 3-point effort at the buzzer that caught the back iron.
NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series with Florida 3-1.
• The Boilermakers outscored the Gators 30-24 in the paint.
• Purdue is now 18-3 under head coach Katie Gearlds when holding opponents to 60 points or less.
• The 52 points allowed tied for the third fewest of the Gearlds era.
• Big Ten Freshman of the Week Rashunda Jones finished with four points and a career-high five rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will close out the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship on Wednesday with their third straight game against the SEC with a 4 p.m. tip against Georgia.