Women's hoops opens 2023 with win

The Purdue women’s basketball team opened 2023 with a 73-61 win over Wisconsin at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers dominated inside to improve to 11-3 on the year and 2-2 in BIg Ten play.  

Lasha Petree, per usual, led the Boilermakers in scoring with 18 points. The fifth-year senior was 5-of-13 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 at the line. Caitlyn Harper and Ava Learn joined Petree in double figures. All 13 of Harper’s points came in the first half, while Learn notched her entire haul in the final 20 minutes.  

The Boilermakers pounded the ball inside all afternoon. Purdue outscored the Badgers (4-11, 0-4) in the paint 40-24, posting its fifth game with 40 or more points in the painted area.  

With the dominant effort inside, Purdue’s defense stymied the Badgers’ offense, forcing 19 turnovers. The Boilermakers tallied 30 of their 73 points off Wisconsin miscues.  

Jeanae Terry tallied five of Purdue’s season-high 16 steals, matching her career high. Madison Layden recorded a season-high four swipes.  

Terry stuffed the stat sheet yet again. The senior finished with seven points, seven assists, six rebounds and five steals.  

The Boilermakers started strong, jumping out to a 13-8 lead on 6-of-10 shooting. Harper tallied eight points in the opening 10 minutes as Purdue built up an 11-point lead.  

After Purdue took a 27-12 lead early in the second, Wisconsin responded with a 12-4 run to close the first half. The Boilermakers shot 43.8% from the field in the first half  

Wisconsin battled back in the third quarter to cut the gap down to one with two minutes to play. Ava Learn vaulted the Boilermakers back into a multi-possession lead with 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting in just six minutes of action in the frame.  

Purdue’s defense locked in for the fourth quarter, forcing seven Wisconsin turnovers and scoring 14 points off those giveaways. Purdue went 9-of-12 at the line to close out the game. 

Purdue will be back on the road next Saturday when it travels to Penn State. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. on B1G+.  

Ramos Claims Title at Southern Scuffle

 Purdue Wrestling’s Matt Ramos claimed the title in the 125-pound division at the 2023 Southern Scuffle in front of a raucous crowd in McKenzie Arena. Teammate Kendall Coleman took second at 157 after losing in the tiebreaker rounds of his finals match.
 
The Boilermakers (4-3, 0-0 B1G) made their first ever trip to the 18^th edition of the tournament and came away with a champion and a runner-up on the first try. The duo of Ramos and Coleman went a combined 9-1 with three bonus point wins over the two days. Both have reached the finals in all three tournaments Purdue has participated in this season.
 
Always the leading man, the redshirt sophomore Ramos did not wait to take control of his bout with No. 14 Noah Surtin of Missouri. Just over a minute into the match, the Purdue wrestler executed a slick duck to get Surtin on his back in a move that nearly resulted in a pin. It was ruled a takedown and a two-point nearfall that gave Ramos an early four-point lead that he would never relinquish to win a 4-3 decision and take the title.
 
It’s been quite the run for Matt Ramos over the last few months. He has claimed titles at the Southern Scuffle, Clarion Open and a freestyle title at the U.S. Open in addition to a runner-up finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
 
Coleman faced his third top-5 opponent of the season in No. 4 Jared Franek of North Dakota State and it was another exciting showing from the redshirt senior. The action came in the back half of the bout. Coleman needed to pull off some incredible defense to hold off Franek who had his leg raised late in the third but the two remained square and would go to extra time. Both wrestlers came close to takedowns at multiple points in a frantic sudden victory period, but yet again they remained level. In the tiebreaker rounds, Franek got a quicker escape and that proved to be enough to give him the match.  
 
Both Purdue men punched their ticket to the finals with wins in sudden victory. Ramos went back and forth on shots with No. 16 Stevo Poulin of Northern Colorado with neither scoring in regulation before the Purdue wrestler got in on a leg and finished off one of his classic scrambles for a takedown. Coleman was patient in his 3-1 win over No. 13 Jarrett Jacques of Missouri, waiting for his moment before striking with his incredible speed to execute a double leg for two take the match.
 
On day one, Stoney Buell, Cooper Noehre and Tristan Ruhlman all fought their way to the consolation round of eight before losing one match short of the blood round. Noehre put on a determined performance against three-time NCAA qualifier No. 21 Wyatt Sheets of Oklahoma State before losing in the tiebreaker rounds. Ruhlman earned his third pin of the season against Virginia’s Ethan Weatherspoon in the consolation round of 16.
 
Veteran 141-pounder Parker Filius was unable to compete in the tournament due to injury and the Boilermakers did not replace him in the weight class.