By Anne McLaren
Staff Writer

The well went dry for Purdue Monday night as Oklahoma came from 17 points down to defeat the Boilers 76-74 in Mackey Arena.

The loss snapped a streak of seven consecutive NCAA tournament wins for the defending NCAA champion. With the victory, the fifth-seeded Sooners advance to the Sweet 16 to face top-ranked Connecticut.

The fourth-seeded Boilers (23-8) went to center Camille Cooper right from the start of the game. The 6-foot-4 Cooper had a height advantage over the shorter Sooners (25-7) and scored a career-high 34 points.

But Purdue coach Kristy Curry said that strategy may have backfired.

"You can go to the well so many times and it’ll become dry," said Curry. "I thought we did that a little bit."

With Cooper scoring frequently, guards Katie Douglas and Kelly Komara struggled, combining for eight points.

"That’s something that I’m going to lie awake all summer wondering what I could have done differently to maybe get (Katie) more involved," said Curry.

Douglas said she was disappointed in her play.

"I let myself down; I let my team down in my level of play during the tournament," said Douglas, who finished with just four points on 1-of-11 shooting.

Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale thought Purdue’s decision to force the ball inside hindered Douglas.

"I’m not an expert on Purdue, but they were going to Cooper and she was scoring and scoring and scoring, and maybe Katie got lost in the flow," said Coale.

Junior Shinika Parks scored a career-high 22 points. But 17 of her points came in the first half when Purdue was able to build a 44-32 halftime advantage.

"The second half adjustment that we made was to not let Parks go right," said Coale. "I think we did a much better job in the second half."

After two free throws by Parks, the Boilers led 59-46 with 11:04 remaining. But Oklahoma, despite having three players with four fouls, was able to chip away at Purdue’s lead.

"We didn’t value each possession the last five minutes of the basketball game," said Curry. "And Oklahoma did a great job of converting. We didn’t do a very good job of executing."

After Oklahoma pulled within one at 68-67, Cooper scored two baskets to put the Boilers up five. Then Oklahoma scored nine straight points while taking its first lead of the game.

The Boilers had a chance to tie the game in the final minute, but Cooper stepped out of bounds after collecting a rebound. On the ensuing possession, the Sooners’ Stacey Dales hit one free throw to push their lead to four to secure the win.

After the loss, Curry said that nobody was hurting more than Douglas.

"We can all talk about Katie and how she had four points, but it’s about five people on the floor," said Curry. "It’s about 10 kids. It’s not about one person. One person doesn’t win or lose the basketball game. And what Katie’s done for this program this year is far more than tonight."