Boilers beat Badgers in OT

By Anne McLaren
Assistant Sports Editor

Katie Douglas wasn’t going to let Purdue lose to Wisconsin.

The All-American scored 14 of the Boilers’ last 23 points as Purdue survived a scare from the Badgers and won 75-70 in overtime Sunday in Mackey Arena.

"I didn’t want to lose," said Douglas. "After we went into overtime, I got that mentality — this is our home floor, all these fans came to see us play and we didn’t want to disappoint them."

With the win, its 11th straight, Purdue (19-3, 9-0 Big Ten) now holds a three-game lead atop the conference standings. Wisconsin (12-7, 6-3) remains in second place, tied with Penn State (14-6, 6-3), who beat Michigan State 94-59 Sunday.

"Today’s about pride," said Wisconsin coach Jane Albright. "They’re in first place, we’re in second place."

With No. 6 Purdue leading 61-59 and 1:43 remaining in regulation, junior Kelly Komara hit a 3-pointer to give the Boilers a five-point lead. But on the ensuing possession, Wisconsin’s LaTonya Sims answered with a 3-pointer of her own. After a timeout, Purdue’s inbound pass was intercepted by Wisconsin’s Tamara Moore, who later tied the game with 50 seconds left in regulation. Purdue had several chances to take the lead but the game went into overtime tied at 64.

In overtime, Kyle Black gave the Badgers an early two-point lead. But Purdue’s Shalicia Hurns tied the contest with two free throws. After a Douglas basket, two free throws by Wisconsin’s Candas Smith and a basket by Jessie Stomski gave the Badgers a two-point lead. But Douglas answered with a traditional three-point play to put Purdue up 71-70 with 2:50 remaining.

"Her leadership came into effect," said freshman forward Shereka Wright. "She knew that we had to step up and play — that she had lead us and she did."

After Wisconsin called a timeout, Wright intercepted a pass from Black. She passed the ball to Douglas, who was fouled and made two free throws to give Purdue a three-point lead with 22 seconds remaining. Black missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game and Wright was fouled with 1.6 seconds remaining. She made both free throws to account for the final margin.

"We were very fortunate just to come away with the win," said Curry.

Wisconsin led for much of the contest, including a 37-31 advantage at halftime. After shooting 60 percent in the first half, the Badgers made just 38.5 percent of their shots in the second half and 40 percent in overtime.

"They shot the basketball extremely well," said Curry. "They hit some shots that were extremely contested."

Wisconsin coach Jane Albright said she was proud of her team.

"We tried and did the best we could," she said. "It’s a hard, hard loss for us."

"This is a tough place to play," she said of Mackey Arena, which was filled with a season-high 9,082 fan.

Douglas finished with a season-high 24 points. She also set season highs with field goals (9), field goals attempted (21) and minutes (41) and tied her season highs of rebounds (9), 3-pointers (3) and 3-pointers attempted (6).

"When Katie got the ball, I think everybody said, ‘I’m going to rest’ and Katie took over," said Hurns. "She’s big time, so she knows what to do."

Wright added 14 points for Purdue, including 8 of 9 from the free throw line. Komara and Hurns each scored 12.

All five starters for Wisconsin were in double figures, the fourth time that has happened this season. Moore led the Badgers with 19 points while Sims and Stomski each scored 14. Nina Smith scored 11 points before fouling out with 9:44 left in regulation. Black scored 10.

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Sports editor:
Paul Trembacki

Assistant sports editor:
Anne McLaren

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