Boilers beat Hoosiers in Bloomington

By Greg Doddridge
Senior Writer

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Purdue kept feeding the ball into the paint in the second-half Thursday night against Indiana.

That decision paid big dividends for the No. 11 Boilers (14-3, 5-2) as they defeated the Hoosiers 61-53. Senior guard Kelly Komara said the Boilers knew what to expect from the Hoosiers in the second half.

"Indiana is a feisty team and if you don't put them away early, they are going to come at you all game long, as they did with us," said Komara, who scored just three points in the game, but only played eight minutes in the first half because of two fouls.

Purdue junior center Mary Jo Noon scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half as the Boilers withstood a late charge from Indiana.

"She just does a great job when you get the ball to her in that kind of position," said senior forward Laura Meadows, who had 15 points and 16 rebounds in the game.

The Boilers led 53-51 with 2:46 to go in the game after Indiana's 6-foot-5 senior center Jill Chapman, who finished the game with 14 points, hit a basket in the lane. The Hoosiers got to within two again with 1:10 to go in the game after senior Erin McGinnis hit two free throws. But Purdue closed out the game with six free throws in seven trips to the line to finish victorious.

Chapman was a major factor in the first half, scoring eight points and recording five rebounds.

"Coming into this game, we knew she was their go-to player," said Noon. "We just wanted to limit her touches, stay in her face the whole game, alter her shot a little bit and box her out."

Purdue opened the second half with an 8-0 run in a span of 2:05 where sophomore guard Erika Valek scored four of her 13 points.

"I thought the first six minutes of the second half was the difference because it gave us the confidence to withstand some things throughout the rest of the second half," said Purdue coach Kristy Curry.

Chapman was not able to get leverage around Noon in the second half.

"She was pushing me out, keeping me away from the ball," said Chapman.

Both teams started the fist half on a slow note. Komara hit one of two free throws 18 seconds into the game and Indiana's Chapman, a 6-foot-5 senior center, answered with a short basket about a minute later.

The trend of back and forth with points would continue for the next five minutes until Valek hit a 3-pointer with 12:19 to go in the first half. Valek got a good look from the perimeter after sophomore forward Shereka Wright provided deep dribble penetration from the right side.

Purdue got two free throws from Meadows and two more points from freshman guard Emily Heikes with 9:51 to go in the first half to go up, 13-7.

Indiana then went on a 10-1 run in the next 3:40 to lead 17-14 after a McGinnis 3-pointer with 5:38 to go in the half. Chapman had six of her eight first-half points during that run.

Purdue turned the ball over four more times than the Hoosiers and held them to just 28.1 percent shooting in the first half. But the Boilers still led at the half, 25-22.

Purdue made 21 of 27 (77.8 percent) free throws in the game while the Hoosiers made just 8 of 15 (53.3 percent) free throws.

McGinnis led the Hoosiers with 17 points, nine of which came from behind the arc, and eight rebounds.

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