Perfect shooting from Kiki Smith leads Purdue women's basketball over Jackson State

Purdue women's basketball junior guard Kiki Smith's hot shooting drives momentum in final nonleague matchup against Jackson State.

WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue junior guard Kiki Smith shot the basketball with little hesitation and showed why the Boilermakers felt they got a steal in the transfer portal after landing the Topeka, Kansas native who played at Arkansas last season.

Smith hit five shots including 3-of-3 from 3-point range and 7-of-7 from the free throw line in Purdue's latest win over Jackson State, 93-62, to close nonleague play.

Smith scored 20 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists and junior guard Tara Daye continued to cement herself in the Boilermakers rotation.

Daye scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed four rebounds.

The Newark, New Jersey native previous career high was 12 points two seasons ago at St. John's.

Graduate senior Madison Layden-Zay scored 18 points. She inched towards the Purdue career 3-point record after reaching 232 for her career and went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the first half.

Purdue Junior Kiki Smith (23) shoots a 3 during the NCAA women’s basketball game against the Eastern Illinois Panthers, Thursday Nov. 6, 2025, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind.

Freshman Hila Karsh added 11 points with six assists.

Now the gauntlet of Big Ten Conference play begins again for Purdue (8-4, 0-1) after its third straight win.

Purdue hosts Illinois (11-1, 1-0 Big Ten Conference) next Sunday at noon from Mackey Arena.

Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at EthanAHanson and Instagram at  ethan_a_hanson.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue women's basketball ends nonleague with win over Jackson State

Category: General Sports