INDIANAPOLIS – Butler and Purdue went head-to-head in the Second Round of the WNIT on Monday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The two evenly matched teams were separated by just three points at the half. Purdue outscored Butler by nine in the third to build a lead and they would hang on for the win in front of nearly 2,000 fans.
 
Purdue closed out each half on significant scoring runs to earn the 62-51 victory. Just before halftime, Purdue used a 9-0 run to take a 31-28 advantage and late in the action it was a 7-0 PU scoring run to help the Boilers pull away from the Bulldogs.
 
BU led 13-11 after the first quarter and went up 26-19 in the second quarter after scoring seven-straight points. Their largest lead of the game was short lived after Purdue's 9-0 run put the Boilers back in front. Each team shot 2-for-7 from 3 in the first half. There were nine ties and six lead changes as the two teams battled it out over the opening 20 minutes.
 
The third quarter had a promising start for BU fans as Karsyn Norman provided the team with an elbow jumper followed by a 3-pointer to knot the score at 33-33. Momentum quickly shifted after those shots as Purdue scored the next 10 points to earn a 10-point lead.
 
The visitors led 51-39 heading into the fourth, but the Bulldogs continued to fight and got within four of Purdue with less than five to play. The late comeback charge fell short as Purdue regained their composure and ended the game on the 7-0 run.
 
Butler ends the year at 15-17 overall, improving from 11-19 a year ago.
 
Inside the Box Score
- Riley Makalusky led Butler with 14 points on Monday night
- Sydney Jaynes scored 10 points and led BU with seven rebounds
- Karsyn Norman had five points and a team-high six assists
- Butler shot 4-for-22 from 3-point range and Purdue made 40% of their attempts (6-15)
- Butler made all seven of their free throw attempts
- PU shot 46% from the field
- Mila Reynolds led PU with a game-high 15 points
- Purdue scored 40 points in the paint