Purdue women's basketball season ends in WNIT Great 8 against Vermont
WEST LAFAYETTE — Seniors Jeanae Terry and Abbey Ellis managed to hold their tears just long enough to explain their reasoning for coming to Purdue after losing to Vermont, 67-59, in the WNIT Great 8 on Monday night at Mackey Arena.
Both players had similar backgrounds as transfers — Terry from Illinois and Ellis from Cal Poly.
Together, the duo became the building blocks for the Boilermakers, who finished the season 15-19. Terry set the single-season assists record while Ellis became the first transfer player to score 1,000 career points in West Lafayette, and reached 2,000 total points on Monday night.
"It's been an amazing ride getting to come here and play alongside (Ellis)," Terry said. "Meeting her and playing alongside her has made this college experience amazing and I appreciate her for sticking with me just like everyone else. I'm thankful for this ride and thankful to see what the future has for the both of us."
It wasn't the ending Ellis and Terry had in mind, losing to the Green Mountain State representatives.
More: Aussie native Abbey Ellis creates legacy for Purdue women's basketball
Big Ten Freshman of the Year Mary Ashley Stevenson had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night. Stevenson was held to 1 of 8 shooting from the floor with just seven points and 13 rebounds. The usually reliable freshman Sophie Swanson was held to 1 of 5 shooting, including 0 of 3 from 3-point range.
Ellis led with 16 points, Terry scored 11 points and freshman Rashunda Jones added 12 points to close the season.
Purdue shot 8 of 25 in the second half after holding a seven-point lead in the second quarter.
Vermont sophomore Keira Hanson hit 3 of 4 from 3-point range en route to 17 points while senior Emma Utterback, a Greenwood, Indiana, native scored a game-high 20 points on 8 of 17 shooting. Junior Bella Vito scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and senior Anna Olson added 14 points for Vermont, which shot 16 of 23 in the second half.
Vermont (25-11) entered the game battle-tested and played ranked North Carolina on Nov. 24 in Florida. The Catamounts lost that game narrowly, 54-51. The Boilermakers and Catamounts last played each other on Nov. 23, 1985, a game won by Purdue, 75-47.
Purdue's focus now shifts to 2024-2025 with the return of Jones, Stevenson, Swanson, Alaina Harper and Mila Reynolds.
The Boilermakers have a strong incoming freshman class led by ESPN top 100 guard Jordyn Poole from Fort Wayne Snider, New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year Lana McCarthy and 6-foot-2 forward Kendall Puryear from Blue Springs, Missouri.
More: New Hampshire Miss Basketball Lana McCarthy is ready to make impact for Purdue women
Gearlds has been successful at rebuilding programs in the past. When coaching at Marian University, her team went 16-16 in her first season in 2015.
Two years later, Gearlds led Marian to the NAIA national championship, the first of back-to-back crowns.
"We had a young talented team that struggled in the first year or two and then it finally just all clicked," Gearlds said. "
Now new pieces will come together and hope to shape a new product of excellence to replicate the success of the Final Four-bound men's team.
"I think we have some young, talented pieces on our team," Gearlds said. "We have to put some more pieces around them to continue to build and get better and better. We lost the game tonight but for about a month we had some really good practices. I believe we got a little tight today down the stretch but I'm excited for our future and where we are going to go."
Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at ehanson@gannett.com, on Twitter at EthanAHansonand Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue women's basketball falls to Vermont in WNIT Great 8
