Rutgers University
9-16,1-13Big Ten
Purdue
12-13,4-10Big Ten
Women's Basketball Falls Short at Purdue
Feb 14 | Women's Basketball
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Rutgers women's basketball team (9-16, 1-13 B1G) dropped a 72-57 decision at Purdue (12-13, 4-10) on Saturday at Mackey Arena.
Nene Ndiaye netted 25 points against the Boilermakers, her second game in a row with 25+ points. She also hit four threes.
Rutgers won the battle off the boards, 32-30. Janae Walker led the team with seven rebounds.
How it Happened
- Nene Ndiaye hit a three to start the game, but Purdue responded with a three of its own and two free throws to take an early 5-3 lead.
- Lauryn Swann hit a jumper to tie the score up and Nene Ndiaye gave RU its first edge with another three and two shots at the line to give her team the 10-5 lead with 5:32 to go.
- Nene Ndiaye hit her third three of the quarter, but the Boilermakers responded with three deep shots in a row to take back the 14-13 advantage and force a Scarlet Knights timeout with 4:03 to play.
👌 for 👌
— Rutgers Women's Basketball (@RutgersWBB) February 14, 2026
📺 B1G+
📊 https://t.co/LwuueKp1FO#GoRU | #RUWBB | #NextLevel pic.twitter.com/fze5x6L7E1
- Out of the stop, Swann hit back-to-back jumpers while Zachara Perkins added a free throw to end the opening quarter on a 6-0 run and say on top, 19-14.
- Nene Ndiaye hit a shot at the line to kick off the second period before both teams made layups to keep the six-point difference, 22-16.
- Purdue hit a three-point play with just over six minutes on the clock. Almost two minutes later, Kaylah Ivey recorded her first three to balance the scoring.
- Both teams cashed in on one more bucket before the 2:31 media timeout, but RU stayed in front, 27-21.
- The Boilermakers strung together five points in a row to end the first half, and the Scarlet Knights retained the one-point lead, 27-26.
- Purdue picked up where they left off with four more points, but Nene Ndiaye ended the offense with a three-point play.
AND ONE‼️
— Rutgers Women's Basketball (@RutgersWBB) February 14, 2026
📺 B1G+
📊 https://t.co/LwuueKp1FO#GoRU | #RUWBB | #NextLevel pic.twitter.com/ZAmiUHYA3t
- The Boilermakers recorded another four points to take the 34-30 lead with just over seven minutes remaining.
- RU came back with a pair of layups, but the home team hit a layup followed by a shot from beyond the arc before the 4:48 media timeout. Purdue remained on top, 39-34.
- Following another timeout, the opponent outscored Rutgers 8-2, to take a double-digit lead. Nene Ndiaye hit two shots at the line, and Perkins kept the momentum going with another bucket to make it 47-40.
- Purdue ended the third with three points to take the 10-point lead into the final 10 minutes.
- The opposition went on another 5-0 stretch to start the final quarter of play. Ivey put an end to the scoring with a long two-pointer though. Purdue hit another deep shot before the teams exchanged layups to keep the gap, 60-44.
- Swann cashed in on a three-point play to start off a 7-2 run for RU before a home team timeout with 4:15 on the clock, 62-51.
THREE-POINT PLAY 👏
— Rutgers Women's Basketball (@RutgersWBB) February 14, 2026
📺 B1G+
📊 https://t.co/LwuueKp1FO#GoRU | #RUWBB | #NextLevel pic.twitter.com/eX57h6M7vH
- Purdue followed up after the pause with five more points, before Janae Walker recorded a contested layup.
- The opponent scored a deep shot before four points in a row from Nene Ndiaye to make it a 17-point difference with less than a minute to go.
- The Boilermakers added one final bucket before the end of regulation to come out with the 72-57 victory.
Knights Notes
- Nene Ndiaye came within one point of her career high with 25 points. She has reached 10+ points 18 times and 20+ points seven times.
- Coming off a career best five threes against Minnesota, Ndiaye hit four deep shots at Purdue. She has hit multiple shots from behind the arc eight times this season.
- Janae Walker paced RU with seven rebounds, her second game in a row topping RU in the stat.
- Zachara Perkins netted 10 points on Saturday. She has reached double figures in 15 games, including the last six outings.
- Perkins dished out four assists to pace Rutgers for the second consecutive contest.
- Another close contest featured five lead changes and three ties.
Next Up
Rutgers will continue its Big Ten road trip at RV/-- Illinois on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. ET.
Follow Along
Follow Rutgers women's basketball on Twitter and Instagram (@RutgersWBB) for all of the latest news and updates. The team is also on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersWBB). For all Rutgers Athletics news follow us on Twitter(@RUAthletics), Instagram (@RUAthletics), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics). For additional updates, please download the Gameday App.
