PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's basketball (9-18, 2-13) fell to Purdue (15-12, 6-10) by a score of 70-59 on Sunday afternoon at Jersey Mike's Arena and live on Big Ten Network.
 
Awa Sidibe's 12 points overall and Osh Brown's seven-point third quarter had Rutgers within one possession at the end of the third quarter down 48-45 before the Boilermakers used a 10-0 run in the fourth en route to a 22-14 edge in the final period for the road victory and the season sweep of the Scarlet Knights.

"I was proud of a great three quarters," said acting head coach Timothy Eatman. "We just didn't finish together in the fourth quarter. We had opportunities where we didn't make shots, and on defense, we had opportunities for stops but gave up easy baskets. To Purdue's credit, they made their open shots. The fourth quarter didn't maintain what we needed to accomplish to win. We get a chance to come back on Thursday, honor our seniors, and get a chance to play a good Iowa team." 
 
Sidibe was efficient from the floor at 6-of-8, adding five rebounds and a blocked shot. Tyia Singleton paced Rutgers' effort on the glass with seven boards to go with nine points, while Brown (nine points), Lasha Petree (nine points), Jailyn Mason (eight points), and Shug Dickson (seven points) added to the attack.
 
Shooting and rebounding were almost dead even, so Purdue used a 15-4 advantage in points off turnovers to gain an edge. Abbey Ellis led Purdue with 20 points, while Madison Layden had six of the Boilermakers' 12 steals.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Tyia Singleton went 3-of-5 for six points in a back-and-forth first period that saw five early lead changes as Rutgers led by a single point at 16-15.
• The second quarter featured short runs by both teams, with Purdue countering a Rutgers 5-0 for a 25-20 lead with a 6-0 rally to regain the advantage, 26-25. Awa Sidibe had a monster quarter going 4-of-5 from the field for eight points during the 10-minute span.
• Osh Brown took over, sparking an explosive quarter with an old-fashioned three-point play, part of a seven-point period. Jailyn Mason later hit consecutive three-point field goals to bring RU within one point at 42-41 before Purdue heated up from distance to take a slim, 48-45, advantage into the final frame.
• Purdue's game-changing 10-0 run occurred from 7:54 – 4:45 on the game clock. Sayawni Lassiter and Petree hit threes to keep the deficit at nine or 10, but Purdue maintained its lead down the stretch.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Awa Sidibe led Rutgers in scoring for the second time this season and reached double-figures in Division I for the fourth time.
• The Starting 5 of Sayawni Lassiter, Jailyn Mason, Lasha Petree, Tyia Singleton, and Osh Brown took the floor as the starting unit for the sixth time this season.
• Rutgers is now 8-7 in the all-time series against Purdue dating back to 1999, including a 6-5 mark as Big Ten regular season opponents. Purdue improves to 2-3 when the series is played in Piscataway, grabbing their first New Jersey win since Feb. 2017.

UP NEXT

Rutgers stays home to host No. 22 Iowa on Senior Night – Thurs., Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. at Jersey Mike's Arena and live on Big Ten Network.


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