Purdue Sports Update Dec. 1

WBB: Petree Drops 31 In ACC / Big Ten Challenge Win

Lasha Petree dropped 31 points as the Purdue women’s basketball team held on for an 87-78 win over Syracuse in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Boilermakers notched its second straight challenge win under head coach Katie Gearlds and moved to 7-1 on the year.

Petree became the 40th player in Purdue history to tally 31 points in a game. The fifth-year senior was 13-of-21 from the field for a season high in points and added seven rebounds, her best tally as a Boilermaker.

Jayla Smith joined Petree as the other Boilermaker in double digits. The sophomore went for 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 18 minutes of action.

While Purdue only connected on a trio of 3-pointers, the Boilermakers posted a 54.1% shooting clip on the night with a pair of quarters 60% or better. Purdue worked the ball inside to score 54 points in the paint.

Eight of Purdue’s nine players who saw action hauled in multiple rebounds. Caitlyn Harper tallied a team-high eight, as the Boilermakers won the battle on the boards 44-38.

Syracuse (5-2) shot 36.4% on the night but made five triples in the second half to trim a large Purdue lead to single digits in the fourth. Teisha Hyman tallied a game-high 26 points for the Orange, the most by an opponent against the Boilermakers this season.

Purdue started strong in the first half with 47 points in the opening 20 minutes, paced by Petree with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting. The Boilermakers were 21-of-38 from the field for a 55.3% shooting clip. Thirty-six of the Boilermakers’ first half points came in the paint.

The Boilermakers jumped out in front early in the first quarter with a five-point margin after 10. Syracuse jumped ahead 12-7 through the first 3:27, but the Boilermakers fired back with eight straight points to take the lead for good.

Making 10-of-15 shots in the second, Purdue extended its lead to as many as 20 in the second period. Following back-to-back layups by Smith, to give the Boilermakers a 31-20 lead early in the period, Petree scored nine of Purdue’s next 10 points.

The Boilermakers matched every Syracuse punch in the third with much-needed free throws. Five different players went to the line in the third to make 9-of-10 charity shots out of the break to stay ahead by 16 at its smallest gap.

The Orange rallied to start the fourth with a 14-2 run that saw the lead shrink to six with 4:50 to play. Abbey Ellis nailed a 3-pointer with 4:09 left to stop the run, but the transfer duo of Petree and Harper but the game away. The duo combined for six straight points on back-to-back and-ones to take the lead to 12 with two minutes on the clock.

The Boilermakers will open Big Ten Conference play next Monday on the road at Michigan State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

VB: Hudson, Colvin, Schermerhorn Selected for All-Big Ten Accolades

Three Boilermakers: Eva Hudson, Raven Colvin and Maddie Schermerhorn garnered All-Big Ten honors, announced by the conference office on Wednesday.

Eva Hudson was voted Big Ten Freshman of the Year, First Team All-Big Ten and a unanimous All-Freshman Team honoree. Meanwhile, sophomore Raven Colvin and senior Maddie Schermerhorn earned Second Team nods.

Hudson is the second freshman in Boilermaker history to be named Freshman of the Year, including the first under Dave Shondell‘s guidance (last: Debbie McDonald in 1986 – also First Team All-Big Ten). Moreover, she is the first Purdue newcomer to make All-Big Ten first, second or honorable mention since Stephanie Lynch in 2005’s HM. In fact, she is one of three players in Purdue history to earn the honor. Her All-Freshman team honor also marks the third consecutive year a Boilermaker has made the list.

Libero and leader Schermerhorn received her first postseason award while in her first year of starting for the Boilermakers. One of the most consistent defensive specialists/liberos in the nation, Schermerhorn ranks second among all Power Five players with 4.62 and is on track to finish the season as one of only three Boilermakers in program history to ever produce as many digs per set in a single season. In addition to her Second Team All-Big Ten selection, Schermerhorn was chosen as Purdue’s Sportsmanship Award recipient.

In an explosive sophomore campaign, middle blocker Raven Colvin set two records this season: first the Purdue hitting % record in a four-setter (20+ attempts) with an errorless .696%, before setting not just a Purdue, but Big Ten rally-scoring era record of 16 blocks in a single match. Colvin, who ranks ninth in the nation in total blocks and is coming off a 2021 All-Freshman Team nod a year ago, earns her first Second Team-All-Big Ten award.

The trio helped to lead Purdue to a sixth-place finish in the Big Ten standings behind a 20-10, 11-9 Big Ten record, marking the 12th time in the last 13 years Purdue has finished as high in the standings. Hudson, Colvin and Schermerhorn, who were not represented on the preseason All-Big Ten, guided the program to its best league start in 37 years (last: 1985, started 5-0) after posting the most non-conference wins (nine) in a season since 2018.

Purdue is set to make its 24th appearance in the NCAA tournament on Friday vs. Tennessee. The match, which will be hosted by Louisville, will begin at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Four Swimmers Set to Pursue Trials Cuts at U.S. Open

Four Boilermakers are racing long course on the national stage this weekend, pursuing Olympic Trials cuts while representing Purdue men’s swimming & diving at the Toyota U.S. Open Championships hosted by USA Swimming.

Dylan Burau, Charlie King, Coleman Modglin and Brady Samuels are set to compete for the Boilermakers, with eight events plus potential time trials on the schedule. The quartet is slated to team up for 4×100 medley relay in Thursday’s finals session. Burau would swim the backstroke, King the butterfly, Modglin the breaststroke and Samuels the freestyle anchor leg.

Qualifying time standards (Trials Cuts) for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, which are slated to be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Downtown Indianapolis, officially opened Nov. 30. Swimmers have until May 30, 2024 to qualify.

The four-day meet begins Wednesday with the 800-meter events and is being held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center for the second year in a row. North Carolina’s premier aquatic center also hosted the NCAA Championships and USA Swimming’s Speedo Summer Championships (East Division) in 2021.

Samuels raced at both USA Swimming national meets in Greensboro last year. He was an A finalist in the freestyle sprints at the summer meet and an A finalist in the 100-meter fly at the U.S. Open – via a career-best time of 53.96 – after winning the B final of the event going into his freshman season.

This past summer, Modglin and Samuels were among the eight Purdue swimmers to compete at USA Swimming’s Phillips 66 National Championships in Southern California. Modglin earned second swims in the B final of the 200m breast and C final of the 100m breast.