By Anne McLaren
Staff Writer

Purdue found the balanced scoring it had been stressing lately in its 70-66 victory over Dartmouth in the opening round of the NCAA tournament in Mackey Arena.

The fourth-seeded Boilers (23-7) survived a scare from No. 13 seed Dartmouth (20-8) and advanced to meet fifth-seeded Oklahoma (24-7) at 8 tonight in Mackey Arena. The winner of that game will earn a trip to the Sweet 16.

Junior Camille Cooper led all scorers with 21 points, while guards Katie Douglas and Kelly Komara each added 12. Junior Candi Crawford had nine points and seven rebounds off the bench.

"I’m just trying to go in any way I can and help my team out," said Crawford. "Michelle (Duhart) was gone and Coach (Kristy) Curry said that it was going to take the whole team in order to pull together and win this game. I just tried to do my best and do whatever I could."

Duhart missed the game due to the death of her grandfather earlier in the week. Senior Mackenzie Curless, who started in her place, scored six points and pulled down six rebounds. Curless hit the go-ahead bucket for Purdue with 48 seconds remaining. Afterward, she was just glad the Boilers were able to pull out the victory.

"I was so caught up in the game," she said. "It was too close. I was worried about how it was all going to unfold."

Redshirt freshman Mary Jo Noon combined with Crawford to give the Boilers 13 points and 12 rebounds from the bench.

"I think everyone contributed in their own way," said Curless. "It got really tough in there. Everyone went in there and played big."

Cooper agreed.

"I think everyone came in and stepped up," she said. "New roles — Mac starting — and Candi came in to contribute so we certainly commend them for their efforts. They stepped up big and that’s what it’s going to take throughout the entire tournament from everyone."