Boilers hope to avoid overconfidence

Basketball team prepares to play in Minneapolis

By Anne McLaren
Assistant Sports Editor

With her team holding a two-game conference lead over the next closest opponent, Purdue coach Kristy Curry doesn’t want the Boilers to become overconfident.

"I think we need to put things in perspective that we’re not invincible," said Curry. "So we have to … stay poised and have a sense of maturity about our actions."

The No. 6 Boilers (17-3, 7-0 Big Ten) hold a nine-game winning streak. They face the 10th-place (Big Ten) Minnesota Golden Gophers at 8 p.m. EST Thursday in the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis.

Minnesota (8-9, 1-5) is coming off its first conference win of the season, a 79-47 thrashing of Northwestern on Sunday. In that game, freshman Lindsay Whalen led the Gophers with 31 points on 14-of-17 shooting.

"I’m going to prepare them to beat Minnesota in a way that practices will be much harder and much more intense than Minnesota can ever present to us on Thursday night," said Curry. "We’re going to do our best as a staff to help them understand what we have ahead of us."

Purdue is two games ahead of Wisconsin (10-6, 5-2) in the conference standings. The Badgers are the next foe after the Gophers; the teams tip off at 2 p.m. Sunday in Mackey Arena. In its first conference game of the season, Dec. 28, Purdue beat Wisconsin 70-58.

Illinois, which fell to Purdue 72-64 Sunday in Assembly Hall, is 2 1/2 games back and comes to Mackey Arena on Feb. 1. There is a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference between No. 19 Penn State (12-6, 4-3), Indiana (13-5, 4-3) and Iowa (9-8, 4-3).

"I think the kids are mature enough to understand the big picture with where we’re headed right now," said Curry. "We can’t take anyone for granted because we’re actually going to get everybody’s best shot."

Minnesota is one team Curry thinks will be giving its best shot. Thus, Curry is excited about how the team’s travel plans worked out.

"We get a chance to practice at Minnesota on Wednesday because of the charter time they’ve scheduled us to leave," she said. "So I think that’s a huge benefit for us — not practicing here and getting on up there and getting things in perspective, practicing at Minnesota, having a nice dinner and getting them ready to go."

NOTES: Backup center Mary Jo Noon, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament of her left knee on Jan. 4 against Iowa, will undergo surgery on Wednesday. … Cherrise Graham, who transferred from Purdue in December, has announced that she will complete her basketball career at the University of Virginia. Graham will not be eligible to compete until the spring semester of the 2001-2002 season. … Purdue has won the last nine meetings with Minnesota and the last four in Minneapolis. The Boilers lead the all-time series with the Gophers 25-10.

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Boilers hope to avoid overconfidence

SPORTS DESK PHONE:
(765) 743-1111 ext. 251

Sports editor:
Paul Trembacki

Assistant sports editor:
Anne McLaren

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