Boilermakers want new journey to begin this year

By Greg Doddridge
Staff Writer

Purdue women’s basketball coach Kristy Curry wants people to stop dwelling on the team’s 2001 NCAA runner-up finish.

"Last season we had a really special journey," said Curry. "But that journey is behind us."

Curry wants the players and fans to engage in a new journey, a new adventure.

She got the idea to call this season an adventure from her devotional guide "Grace for the Moment," which she checks every morning.

The morning of Oct. 13 was the team’s first practice and Curry was looking through the guide for the daily comment. The title of that day’s piece was "Poised for Adventure." There was also a Bible verse on the page.

Curry was so struck by the message for the day that she announced to her team her revelation.

"The verse for the day was, ‘The Lord is my light, my salvation; who shall I fear?’ — Psalms 27:1," said Curry. "You know, I said, maybe that journey is over. Maybe we are just going to embark on a new adventure."

But the adventure will not be without effort, trials or tribulations.

"And I told them, on that adventure, I’m asking one thing, you just do the very best that you can do," said Curry.

She said some days would be bad, some sad and some good. And she wants the fans to be a part of the experience.

"It’s going to be fun and I want everybody to come along for the ride," said Curry. "Come along for the adventure with us."

Attendance will be a measure of how many people are joining Curry for the adventure. There was an average of more than 2,000 more people at Mackey Arena during Curry’s first season at Purdue in 1999-2000, compared to last season.

After last season, the team lost six letterwinners, including three starters, All-American Katie Douglas, center Camille Cooper and freshman Shalicia Hurns. Those six accounted for 46.4 points per game for the Boilers. Their point production amounted to 60.9 percent of all of the Boiler’s points last season.

But this year, the Boilers have six returning letterwinners and they welcome five newcomers to the squad.

Senior guard Kelly Komara and sophomore forward Shereka Wright are the two leading returning scorers for the Boilers. They combined to average 19.4 points per game last season.

Center Mary Jo Noon, a 6-foot-5 junior, is back for the Boilers. She played only 18 games last year because of a knee injury, averaging 4.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

Sophomores Erika Valek, Lindsey Hicks and Beth Jones also return for the Boilers. Valek averaged 6.4 points per game last year before tearing ligaments in her knee in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

The newcomers are freshmen Hannah Anderson and Emily Heikes, juniors Mandy Davis and Kennitra Johnson and senior Laura Meadows.

Anderson is a walk-on, only the 11th in Purdue basketball history, from West Lafayette High School. She served as a team manager last year as a true freshman.

Heikes averaged 14.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Palos Hills, Ill. Davis is a junior-college transfer from Weatherford, where she averaged 11.6 points per game.

Meadows sat out last season after transferring from Kentucky in the summer of 2000. During her junior year at Kentucky, she averaged 11.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. She’s eligible this year.

And Johnson is an August of 2001 transfer from the University of Connecticut. She will sit out this season.

Purdue opens its exhibition season on Nov. 4 in Mackey Arena. But Komara has her eyes on the NCAA tournament and the Final Four in San Antonio. She was a freshman when the Boilers won the NCAA championship in 1999.

"So now it is time for me to go back again and go out the same way I came in, with a national championship," Komara said. "I think we can do it this year."

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