Sophomore scores 22 in blowout win

By Paul Trembacki
Sports Editor

Southern Mississippi coach Rick Reeves grew up nine miles from the house of legendary basketball coach John Wooden, a Purdue All-American in the 1930s, and he idolized Purdue All-American Rick Mount as a youngster.

During his return to his home state Saturday, Reeves got to see an old-fashioned 3-point shooting display as Purdue sophomore Beth Jones came within one trey of tying the Purdue record and the Boilers won 80-40.

Jones hit 6 of 8 3-pointers and scored a career-high 22 points to lead No. 11 Purdue (3-1) to its third straight win at home.

Reeves, who graduated from Indiana State in 1981 and played on the 1979 national runner-up Indiana State team that was led by Larry Bird, was upset that his players didn't defend Jones better.

Jones' shots were often uncontested, and she took advantage of that.

"Once that first one fell, I kind of fell into a rhythm," Jones said. "It’s something I expect of myself, to step up and help in any way I can."

Jones averaged 5.4 minutes per game last season but she's averaging 17 minutes per game this season.

"I'm enjoying it," she said. "I expected myself to step up."

Jones came into the game at guard early and helped Purdue break away and send the Golden Eagles (0-3) to their third straight loss.

Purdue led 10-8 eight minutes into the game, but the Boilers, who've beat their last three opponents by an average of 38 points, went on a 23-6 run that included 11 points from Jones to take control of the game.

Jones was the primary scoring option, especially late in the game when leading scorer Shereka Wright sat out with a sprained right ankle for the final 13:14 after colliding with center Mary Jo Noon on a rebound. Wright will be re-evaluated today, Purdue's off day.

Southern Mississippi, which had four starters out with injury, played zone defense, thereby opening up the outside shots for Purdue, which hit 11 of 22 3-pointers.

Senior Kelly Komara had three treys and finished with 15 points, seven assists and no turnovers.

"We've always said that we welcome the zone," Komara said. "(The 3-pointers) were just the shots the defense was giving. Beth got us going. When one person makes one, everybody seems to hit. It was just contagious."

Jones, whose previous career high was 10 points, also set a career high with four steals as Purdue used its defense to produce offense with 15 steals.

Although the Boilers were aggressive in attempting steals, their aggression didn't cause them to be called for a lot of fouls. Purdue set a team record with just four fouls; the previous low was six, set last season against Northwestern.

Purdue coach Kristy Curry, who was pleased with what she called an "unselfish effort" by her team, said Jones' big game was not a fluke.

"She has a green light," Curry said. "When she’s open, I want her to shoot. I’m very pleased for her because she worked so hard in the offseason."

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Sports editor:
Paul Trembacki

Assistant sports editor:
Doug Healey

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