No. 10 Indiana women rout Purdue, team mark for Big Ten wins

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Mackenzie Holmes scored 11 of her 26 points in the fourth quarter as No. 10 Indiana pulled away from pesky in-state rival Purdue for a 74-59 Big Ten win that made program history on Saturday.

The Hoosiers (18-4, 16-2) set a school record for most conference wins in a season with their ninth consecutive victory. Their previous mark of 15 Big Ten wins was set in 1982-83.

As much as this season has been defined by success, losses to No. 8 Maryland and Ohio State could prevent Indiana from winning the conference regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in next week’s Big Ten tournament.

Holmes, a sophomore post player who also had nine rebounds, scored seven points as part of a 13-2 run to open the final quarter as Indiana built a 13-point cushion. Purdue was scoreless for nearly five minutes and outscored 21-8 in the final quarter.

Aleksa Gulbe added 14 points, Nicole Cardano-Hillary scored 11 and Grace Berger 10 for the Hoosiers.

Purdue (7-15, 3-15) is at the end of its worst season since 5-23 under Ruth Jones in 1983-84. Kayana Traylor scored 17 points and Brooke Moore had 13.

The Boilermakers traded the lead several times early, fell behind by five points at halftime, then closed to a 53-51 deficit entering the final quarter.

TIP-INS

Purdue: Barring a conference tournament title, the Boilermakers will finish with the worst record in Sharon Versyp’s two decades as a head coach. Her previous worst was 11-20 in 2014-15. … Versyp and Indiana coach Teri Moren are Purdue graduates.

Indiana: Has won five consecutive Barn Burner Trophy games against the in-state rival Boilermakers, the longest IU streak since the trophy was introduced in 1993-94. … Purdue leads the all-time series 19-9.

UP NEXT

Purdue: At Big Ten tournament Tuesday.

Indiana: At Big Ten tournament Tuesday.