By Kyle Charters
Asst. Sports Editor

The Boilers know that if they want to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament they need to make significant improvements after their poor performance in their tourney opener.

No. 4-seed Purdue (23-7) beat No. 13-seed Dartmouth (20-8), 70-66, on Saturday night in Mackey Arena. Despite earning the win, the Boilers played inconsistently on offense and defense.

Purdue will try to improve in both areas at 8 tonight when it plays No. 5-seed Oklahoma (24-7) in Mackey Arena. The winner will advance to play in the Sweet 16 in Richmond, Va.

"Certainly, we know it's going to take a better effort tonight against Oklahoma," said Purdue coach Kristy Curry. "We're prepared and ready to go."

For the first 16 minutes of Purdue's game against Dartmouth, the Boilers played well and held a 39-19 advantage with nearly four minutes remaining in the half. But the Big Green rallied and briefly took the lead late in the game.

While building its big lead in the first half against Dartmouth, the Ivy League champs, Purdue shot 57.1 percent. But the offense struggled in the second half as the Boilers shot just 31 percent from the floor. Purdue also had trouble keeping possession of the ball, committing 18 turnovers in the game.

With Purdue struggling, Dartmouth tied the game at 66 before forward Mackenzie Curless hit a short jumper with 48 seconds left to give the Boilers the win.

"Any team can beat any other team on any given night," said Curless, who finished with six points and six rebounds in 29 minutes of action. "You need to go out every game like it could be your last."

Curless, a senior, started for Michelle Duhart, who missed Saturday's game due to a death in the family.

The Boilers should be aided by the return of Duhart, a 6-foot forward. Duhart, who averages 4.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, should help Purdue with defensive pressure and offensive rebounding.

"Michelle is the best post defender on our team and she does a great job of stopping penetration," said Curry.

Duhart's primary duty will be to help slow the Sooners' Phylesha Whaley, the Big 12 Player of the Year. Whaley, a 5-foot-10 senior forward, is averaging 21.0 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.

"It's good to know that when you're facing Phylesha Whaley, you have your best post defender," said Curry.

Whaley had a season-high 33 points in Oklahoma's 86-81 win over BYU in Mackey Arena on Saturday. With that performance, Whaley became the career leading-scorer in Sooner history.

While Whaley had a solid performance on Saturday, Purdue's star, junior Katie Douglas, didn't. The All-America guard scored just 12 points on 2-of-11 shooting.

"Even though I didn't have a good offensive night, I think it's going to motivate me to come out and play better basketball (tonight) and be ready to play Oklahoma," said Douglas, who averages 21.0 points per game.

Sooner coach Sherri Coale said Douglas is the key to the Boilers' offense.

"As she goes, they go," said Coale. "And so fortunately we feel like Stacey (Dales) matches up pretty well with Katie, physically; they're similar players."

Coale said Douglas' and the Boilers' struggles in their opening round tournament game should be an advantage for the Sooners tonight.

"It maybe takes away a little of the mystique that might be there with them being the defending national champions," said Coale.

"It was good for us to see that they are human," she said. "They have to play, put on their shoes and put on their uniform just like we do."