Guard's efforts lead Boilers
to win
Junior scores 15 on perfect
shooting in WNIT opener
By Kyle Charters
Managing
Editor
After just one game, it seems
Kelly Komara's transition from point guard to shooting guard is a success.
The junior was nearly perfect
in No. 4 Purdue's 84-60 win over Eastern Michigan (0-1) in the first
game of the preseason WNIT on Saturday in Mackey Arena. Komara scored
15 points on 5-of-5 shooting and made 3 of 3 shots from 3-point range.
Komara, who also made both
her free throws, had five rebounds, two assists, one steal and no turnovers
in 30 minutes of action.
"Kelly Komara did a great
job today," said Purdue (1-0) coach Kristy Curry. "She let things come
to her and that's what we expect from her. I thought it all started
with her.
Komara had 10 of the Boilers'
first 18 points to help Purdue gain an eight-point advantage with 14
minutes left in the first half. Eastern Michigan got to within five
points of Purdue on two occasions — both in the first half —
but couldn't get any closer.
All-American Katie Douglas
said it was important for Purdue to get an early lead and Komara's solid
shooting in the first half helped.
"That's what we're looking
for Komara to do this year — to step up her offensive scoring and
step in when the defense collapses and hit big shots," said Douglas,
who had 12 points, a game-high seven assists and three steals.
Komara played primarily at
point guard during her first two years at Purdue. But the addition of
freshmen guards Erika Valek and Cherrise Graham to this season's squad
allowed Komara to move to shooting guard — a change she endorsed.
"The shooting guard's not
too much different than the point guard really except you don't have
to bring the ball up the court," said Komara, who averaged 10.9 points
and 3.6 assists per game last season. "It was nice today. It was good
not having to guard the point guard all the way up the floor."
With Komara moving to the
shooter's position, Curry said one of the Boilers' goals for the game
was to get Komara open shots.
"And we did a good job of
that — executing our offense," Curry said. "We knew they were going
to play that matchup zone and we've really worked the past week or so
on getting her shots in those spots and she happened to hit them …
Kelly was on today. She hit her shots."
Komara gave credit to senior
center Camille Cooper, who led Purdue with 21 points, for providing
the open looks.
"They were collapsing
really big on Camille. I think their emphasis tonight was to stop Camille,
which, as you can tell, didn't work too well," said Komara. "They'd
collapse in on her and we'd kick it out to me and today I hit some of
my shots and kind of sparked the team a little bit."
• The Boilers continue
action in the second round of the preseason WNIT with a contest against
Georgetown (1-0) at 7 tonight in Mackey Arena.
|
