2025–26 Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball team

2025–26 Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball
2025–26 Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	13–17 (5–13 Big Ten)
Head coach	Katie Gearlds (5th season);
Associate head coach	Kelly Komara; April Phillips
Assistant coach	Michael Stephens
Home arena	Mackey Arena

2025–26 Big Ten women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 2 UCLA †	18	–	0	1.000	31	–	1	.969
No. 7 Iowa	15	–	3	.833	26	–	6	.813
No. 9 Michigan	15	–	3	.833	26	–	6	.813
No. 18 Minnesota	13	–	5	.722	22	–	8	.733
No. 12 Ohio State	13	–	5	.722	26	–	7	.788
No. 17 Maryland	11	–	7	.611	24	–	8	.750
No. 20 Michigan State	11	–	7	.611	22	–	8	.733
Washington	10	–	8	.556	22	–	10	.688
USC	9	–	9	.500	17	–	13	.567
Illinois	9	–	9	.500	21	–	11	.656
Oregon	8	–	10	.444	23	–	12	.657
Nebraska	7	–	11	.389	19	–	13	.594
Indiana	6	–	12	.333	18	–	14	.563
Purdue	5	–	13	.278	13	–	17	.433
Wisconsin	5	–	13	.278	14	–	17	.452
Penn State	4	–	14	.222	11	–	18	.379
Northwestern	2	–	16	.111	8	–	21	.276
Rutgers	1	–	17	.056	9	–	20	.310

† 2026 Big Ten tournament winner As of March 20, 2026 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2025–26 Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball team currently represents Purdue University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Boilermakers are led by fifth-year head coach Katie Gearlds and played their home games at Mackey Arena where they are a member of the Big Ten Conference.

Previous season

The Boilermakers finished the 2024–25 season 10–19, 3–15 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for 15th place. Due to a tiebreaking rules, they failed to qualify for the Big Ten women's tournament.

Offseason

Departures

Purdue Departures
Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Amiyah Reynolds	1	G	6'0"	Sophomore	South Bend, IN	Transferred to UT Arlington
Rashunda Jones	2	G	5'8"	Sophomore	South Bend, IN	Transferred to Michigan State
Jayla Smith	3	G	6'0"	Senior	Indianapolis, IN	Transferred to Missouri
Destini Lombard	4	G	5'9"	Graduate Student	New Iberia, LA	Graduated
Mahri Petree	7	G	6'0"	Graduate Student	Detroit, MI	Graduated
Jordyn Poole	10	G	5'7"	Freshman	Fort Wayne, IN	Transferred to Dayton
Mila Reynolds	15	F	6'3"	Junior	South Bend, IN	Transferred to UT Arlington
Sophie Swanson	31	G	5'10"	Sophomore	Barrington, IL	Transferred to Virginia Tech
Alaina Harper	32	F	6'3"	Junior	Hartland, WI	Retired from basketball due to injury^[1]
Reagan Bass	34	F	6'1"	Senior	Strongsville, OH	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Purdue incoming transfers
Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Taylor Henderson	2	G	5'11"	Junior	Charlotte, NC	UNC Wilmington
Nya Smith	3	G	5'9"	Sophomore	Roswell, GA	UNC Greensboro
Taylor Feldman	5	G	5'8"	Senior	Tustin, CA	Northern Arizona
Saige Stahl	13	F	6'1"	Junior	Seymour, IN	Indiana State
Kiki Smith	23	G	5'7"	Junior	Topeka, KS	Arkansas
Tara Daye	44	G	5'10"	Junior	Newark, NJ	St. John's

2025 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight
Avery Gordon P	Brownsburg, IN	Brownsburg High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	N/A
Avery Gordon P	Recruit ratings: ESPN: (93)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2025 Player Commits". ESPN. Archived from the original on September 9, 2025.

Roster

2025–26 Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	2	Taylor Henderson	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	RS Jr	UNC Wilmington	Charlotte, North Carolina
G	3	Nya Smith	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	So	UNC Greensboro	Roswell, Georgia
G	5	Taylor Feldman	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Sr	Northern Arizona	Tustin, California
G	8	Hila Karsh	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Fr		Rishon LeZion, Israel
G	11	McKenna Layden	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr	Northwestern High School	Kokomo, Indiana
F	13	Saige Stahl	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Jr	Indiana State	Seymour, Indiana
F	22	Kendall Puryear	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	So	Blue Springs South High School	Lee's Summit, Missouri
G	23	Kiki Smith	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Jr	Arkansas	Topeka, Kansas
G	24	Carley Barrett	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Fr	Lafayette Central Catholic Jr/Sr High School	Lafayette, Indiana
G	33	Madison Layden-Zay	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	GS	Northwestern High School	Kokomo, Indiana
F	35	Lana McCarthy	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	So	Bedford High School	Bedford, New Hampshire
G	44	Tara Daye	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	RS Jr	St. John's	Newark, New Jersey
F	55	Avery Gordon	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	Fr	Brownsburg High School	Brownsburg, Indiana

Head coach

Katie Gearlds (Purdue)

Assistant coach(es)

Kelly Komara (Purdue)
April Phillips (Xavier)
Mark Stephens (Morehead State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 27, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Purdue Northwest	W 118–42		16 – McCarthy	11 – Stahl	5 – Tied	Mackey Arena (3,436) West Lafayette, IN
Regular season
November 3, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Fairleigh Dickinson	W 67–48	1–0	19 – K. Smith	9 – Stahl	3 – McCarthy	Mackey Arena (4,726) West Lafayette, IN
November 6, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Eastern Illinois	W 82–67	2–0	24 – Karsh	7 – Karsh	4 – Tied	Mackey Arena (5,506) West Lafayette, IN
November 12, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Purdue Fort Wayne	L 67–68	2–1	18 – Karsh	6 – Tied	2 – Tied	Gates Sports Center (1,158) Fort Wayne, IN
November 18, 2025* 7:00 p.m., SECN		at No. 20 Kentucky	L 35–76	2–2	10 – Daye	10 – Daye	2 – K. Smith	Memorial Coliseum (4,625) Lexington, KY
November 23, 2025* 12:30 p.m., BTN		Miami (OH)	W 79–68	3–2	21 – Layden-Zay	7 – Stahl	7 – Feldman	Mackey Arena (3,780) West Lafayette, IN
November 26, 2025* 12:00 p.m., B1G+		Howard	W 92–62	4–2	19 – McCarthy	15 – McCarthy	6 – K. Smith	Mackey Arena (6,848) West Lafayette, IN
November 30, 2025* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Central Michigan	L 55–57	4–3	14 – Daye	8 – Daye	5 – N. Smith	McGuirk Arena (1,013) Mount Pleasant, MI
December 3, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Evansville	W 91–49	5–3	16 – K. Smith	8 – Tied	4 – Tied	Mackey Arena (3,402) West Lafayette, IN
December 7, 2025 12:00 p.m., BTN		at No. 6 Michigan	L 56–104	5–4 (0–1)	9 – Tied	5 – N. Smith	2 – Tied	Crisler Center (4,055) Ann Arbor, MI
December 11, 2025* 11:00 a.m., B1G+		Lipscomb	W 88–45	6–4	18 – Daye	11 – Daye	6 – K. Smith	Mackey Arena (5,331) West Lafayette, IN
December 14, 2025* 12:00 p.m., B1G+		Dayton	W 80–43	7–4	17 – Karsh	12 – Daye	5 – Layden-Zay	Mackey Arena (5,024) West Lafayette, IN
December 21, 2025* 12:00 p.m., B1G+		Jackson State	W 93–62	8–4	22 – Daye	7 – K. Smith	6 – Karsh	Mackey Arena (5,203) West Lafayette, IN
December 28, 2025 12:00 p.m., BTN		Illinois	L 73–83	8–5 (0–2)	20 – Puryear	9 – Daye	4 – Tied	Mackey Arena (6,031) West Lafayette, IN
December 31, 2025 12:00 p.m., BTN		No. 19 Ohio State	L 56–83	8–6 (0–3)	17 – Layden-Zay	8 – Layden-Zay	2 – K. Smith	Mackey Arena (4,102) West Lafayette, IN
January 4, 2026 3:00 p.m., B1G+		at No. 20 Nebraska	L 62–78	8–7 (0–4)	12 – Daye	6 – Tied	6 – Daye	Pinnacle Bank Arena (6,243) Lincoln, NE
January 8, 2026 7:30 p.m., B1G+		at Wisconsin	W 75–67	9–7 (1–4)	20 – N. Smith	8 – Layden-Zay	4 – N. Smith	Kohl Center (2,458) Madison, WI
January 11, 2026 2:00 p.m., B1G+		No. 23 Washington	W 78–72 ^OT	10–7 (2–4)	19 – Tied	12 – McCarthy	4 – Tied	Mackey Arena (6,005) West Lafayette, IN
January 18, 2026 5:00 p.m., B1G+		at USC	L 57–83	10–8 (2–5)	21 – Daye	10 – Daye	6 – Layden-Zay	Galen Center (5,464) Los Angeles, CA
January 21, 2026 10:00 p.m., B1G+		at No. 3 UCLA	L 48–96	10–9 (2–6)	14 – N. Smith	8 – Daye	6 – Layden-Zay	Pauley Pavilion (3,759) Los Angeles, CA
January 25, 2026 12:00 p.m., B1G+		Indiana Rivalry/Indiana National Guard Governor's Cup	W 80–69	11–9 (3–6)	13 – N. Smith	4 – Tied	6 – Layden-Zay	Mackey Arena (7,917) West Lafayette, IN
January 29, 2026 6:00 p.m., BTN		No. 13 Michigan State	L 65–86	11–10 (3–7)	20 – Gordon	9 – Daye	8 – Daye	Mackey Arena (3,610) West Lafayette, IN
February 1, 2026 1:00 p.m., B1G+		at Minnesota	L 55–88	11–11 (3–8)	16 – K. Smith	6 – Daye	4 – Layden-Zay	Williams Arena (4,502) Minneapolis, MN
February 4, 2026 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Penn State	L 82–85 ^OT	11–12 (3–9)	24 – K. Smith	7 – Tied	4 – Tied	Mackey Arena (3,712) West Lafayette, IN
February 8, 2026 2:00 p.m., B1G+		at Indiana Rivalry/Indiana National Guard Governor's Cup	L 59–74	11–13 (3–10)	17 – Gordon	9 – Layden	6 – Layden-Zay	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (9,110) Bloomington, IN
February 14, 2026 12:00 p.m., B1G+		Rutgers	W 72–57	12–13 (4–10)	17 – K. Smith	6 – Puryear	6 – K. Smith	Mackey Arena (6,452) West Lafayette, IN
February 19, 2026 7:00 p.m., B1G+		No. 13 Iowa	L 74–83	12–14 (4–11)	19 – N. Smith	7 – Tied	5 – N. Smith	Mackey Arena (4,046) West Lafayette, IN
February 22, 2026 1:00 p.m., B1G+		at No. 14 Maryland	L 66–99	12–15 (4–12)	19 – K. Smith	6 – McCarthy	6 – N. Smith	Xfinity Center (9,032) College Park, MD
February 25, 2026 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Oregon	L 65–71	12–16 (4–13)	20 – N. Smith	9 – Daye	4 – N. Smith	Mackey Arena (5,428) West Lafayette, IN
March 1, 2026 3:00 p.m., B1G+		at Northwestern	W 67–62	13–16 (5–13)	18 – Daye	8 – Daye	7 – N. Smith	Welsh–Ryan Arena (2,181) Evanston, IL
Big Ten tournament
March 4, 2026 8:30 p.m., Peacock/NBCSN	(14)	vs. (11) Oregon First Round	L 64–82	13–17	14 – McCarthy	9 – McCarthy	4 – N. Smith	Gainbridge Fieldhouse (6,587) Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[2]

References

^ "Purdue WBB: Alaina Harper Retires From Basketball". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
^ "Purdue University Official Athletic Site :: Women's Basketball". purduesports.com. Retrieved September 9, 2025.

[1] "Purdue WBB: Alaina Harper Retires From Basketball". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2025-03-21.

[2] "Purdue University Official Athletic Site :: Women's Basketball". purduesports.com. Retrieved September 9, 2025.

[1]

[2]

Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball
Venues	Mackey Arena (1975–present)
Rivalries	Indiana
Culture & lore	History Boilermaker Special Purdue Pete "Hail Purdue!"
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics