Struggling Gophers women's basketball loses fourth straight game, 80-66 at Purdue

Eventually, the frustration the Gophers were feeling on offense Thursday appeared to spread the length of the floor.

The Gophers women's basketball team lost its fourth straight game at Purdue, 80-66, in Mackey Arena. Up just four points after a back-and-forth first half, Purdue took over the game in the third quarter, scoring 27 points on 11-for-19 shooting, getting 10 of those points off Gophers turnovers, turning a close game into a 13-point lead entering the fourth.

"We have to come out and be more locked in,'' said Deja Winters, who scored a game-high 17 points for the Gophers (9-12 , 2-7 Big Ten). "Come out hitting first. I don't think we came out with high energy after halftime.''

This has been a recent trend.

During the four-game losing streak the Gophers have been outscored 112-62 in the third quarter, a stat admittedly skewed a bit by the one-sided loss to Iowa.

But Thursday, after a competitive, streaky first half — the Gophers fell behind 13-4 to start the game, but were up 19-18 just three minutes into the second quarter — Minnesota trailed by just four.

But things got out of hand after halftime.

After shooting just 35.3% in the first half, Purdue (13-7, 4-5) shot 20-for-39 while scoring 50 second-half points.

Purdue opened the third quarter on a 15-7 run to go up 45-33 and were in control the rest of the way.

"I wish I knew the answer for you,'' Gophers coach Lindsay Whalen said when asked about her team's recent third-quarter struggles. "I feel like we had the looks. We were in the right spots to make some plays. A few times we relaxed. A few times they beat us down the floor. Things opened up for them. We'll keep working, keep searching for what we can do to be better in the third.''

BOXSCORE: Purdue 80, Gophers 66

Jeanae Terry had 10 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for Purdue, her second triple-double of the season. Madison Layden scored 16 points, Cassidy Hardin 12. Purdue had a 20-10 edge on points off turnovers, a 26-16 edge in bench scoring, a 17-2 edge on the fast-break.

Perhaps most important was Purdue's ability to use its length and size to pressure the Gophers offense, making many possessions difficult.

"They pressured us,'' Whalen said. "They got up in us. They did a good job of using their length. They were physical, aggressive. Give them credit for that.''

Sara Scalia scored 10 points, her 11th straight game in double figures. But she was scoreless in the first half and finished 3-for-13 overall. Jasmine Powell scored 13 with four rebounds and five assists.

Down 15 points midway through the fourth quarter, Winters had two three-pointers in an 8-2 run that pulled the Gophers within 72-63 with 3:18 left. But Purdue scored the next eight points, pushing the lead back to 17 with 1½ minutes left.

The Gophers will look to end their losing streak against Wisconsin — a half-game ahead of them in the Big Ten standings — at Williams Arena Sunday afternoon.

"It's always frustrating losing,'' Winters said. "I mean, all we can do is continue to get back in the gym, work on our game, everything we need to work on, see what we can learn from this film.''

The Star Tribune did not travel for this event. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews before and/or after the event.