Boilers defeat Hoyas in tournament game

By Anne McLaren
Assistant Sports Editor

Led by Katie Douglas and Kelly Komara’s strong performances, the Boilers advanced to the semifinals of the preseason Women's National Invitational Tournament by defeating Georgetown 81-67 in Mackey Arena Monday night.

Douglas scored 22 points to lead all scorers.

"Give her her props; she’s an excellent player," said Georgetown coach Patrick Knapp.

Komara added 21 by making 5 of 6 shots from 3-point range and 6 of 6 from the free throw line.

The No. 4 Boilers (2-0) jumped out to an early 14-6 lead. But the Hoyas (1-1) went on a 10-1 run to take the lead at 16-15 and led again at 18-17. Two free throws by Shalicia Hurns put the Boilers ahead for good.

Douglas, who averaged 20.4 points per game a year ago, thought she had a better game against the Hoyas than against Eastern Michigan.

"I just tried to come in and attack a little more," she said. "The first few exhibitions I was trying to get everybody involved. I just didn’t have that mentality and I was trying to get it back. I don’t think it’s there totally yet. But I think as the season progresses I’m going to maintain that mentality that I had last year."

Another bright spot for Purdue was the play of senior forward Candi Crawford, who scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.

"Candi played great for us tonight," said Purdue coach Kristy Curry. "I think she let things come to her and she made some great decisions with the basketball, whether it was freeing somebody else up or hitting the open shot."

Crawford said, "Katie and Camille (Cooper) will always be the go-to players. When they’re guarded, we’re open. I just tried to get in a position that they could find me."

Knapp used a zone defense against the Boilers. After the game, however, he said, "The zone, in my opinion, is not the way to beat them."

Douglas said the Boilers don’t like to be "zoned."

"If we figured out a way to break the zone, that’s great for us," she said. "People can’t sit back and be big in the middle, so they’ll have to play us man. If that’s what (Knapp) feels, maybe he’ll tell that to the nation and people won’t zone us anymore."

The Boiler defense, on the other hand, continues to be an area of concern, according to Curry.

"I was a little bit displeased, especially the last four or five minutes," she said. "We had our older group in there, we felt like they could provide us some stability and give us some stops, make some good decisions offensively and I was a little disappointed in that."

An average of 7,522 fans attended the first two rounds at Mackey Arena. Based on the attendance figures, the Boilers will host the semifinal and final rounds of the preseason WNIT.

"Our fans behind us are incredible," said Komara. "The lift they give us — if you hit a shot, it seems like the whole world is cheering for you."

Purdue will face Texas (2-0) in the semifinal round of the preseason WNIT at approximately 4:20 p.m. Sunday in Mackey Arena. No. 13 Virginia will face No. 8 Louisiana Tech in the other semifinal at 2 p.m. The championship game will be Monday at approximately 8:20 p.m., while the consolation game will be Monday at 6:00 p.m.

• Freshman guard Cherrise Graham did not play in Monday night’s game after missing practice on Sunday. Curry said, "She’s better (Monday). She was not feeling well (Sunday)."

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Sports editor: Paul Trembacki

Assistant sports editors: Anne McLaren, Keith Thomas

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