WEST LAFAYETTE − This was their night and the first 3:11 were a clear indication.
Purdue led Penn State 10-0.
Rickie Woltman won the tip and Jeanae Terry whipped a pass to a cutting Lasha Petree for an easy layup.
Two Cassidy Hardin 3-pointers later and a Woltman layup and the three players Purdue would recognize on senior night accounted for a 10-0 run on the Boilermakers' way to an 86-62 win at Mackey Arena.
Hardin, Woltman and Petree all have their own stories for how they've come together to lead a Purdue team hopeful of its first NCAA tournament appearance in six years.
"Those three mean a lot and I'm hoping they know we're far from over," Purdue coach Katie Gearlds said Wednesday night.
Petree played college basketball at three schools before she found one that felt like home, coming to West Lafayette for her final season of eligibility after stops at Bradley and Rutgers.
Woltman, or Slick Rick as they call her, rarely saw the floor in her first two seasons, scoring 30 points in 32 games as a freshman and sophomore. Last season, she started 22 of the 32 games she played.
Purdue Boilermakers guard Cassidy Hardin (5) celebrates after scoring during the NCAA women’s basketball game against the Penn State Nittany Lions, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue won 86-62.
Hardin was ready to move on to the next phase of her life after graduating from Purdue a year ago, already accepted to Indiana University's medical school. Gearlds sold the sharpshooting guard on coming back for one more run.
"Who defers med school to come back and play for a coach they've played for for one year," Gearlds said.
Cassidy Hardin does.
After all, she was the intermediary when things could have gone off the rails when last season began and Gearlds was thrust into the head coaching role to succeed Sharon Versyp.
"Obviously it was an abrupt switch when everything went down the way that it did, so we had a long talk about it," Hardin said. "Coach brought us all together. She definitely came to me and said I need you to be the link between coaches and players when it comes to jelling and getting everyone on the same page.
"It was kind of chaotic at the beginning. Nobody really knew what was going on. Complete philosophy change that we had to get used to. It went about as seamless as it possibly could go. Not that it was perfect by any means but I think she settled into the role pretty well."
