Ohio State charges back against upset-minded Purdue

The Boilermakers knew they’d have to keep up the scoring pace to have a chance against 11th-ranked Ohio State on Sunday.

And for the first 35 minutes, they did so. The last five, however, were a struggle, so much so that an extended drought helped the Buckeyes thwart Purdue’s upset bid. The Boilermakers, who were without starter Bridget Perry, saw their three-game winning streak come to an end with a 61-56 loss.

“For the last three minutes, we just didn’t look like the same team,” said Ashley Morrissette, who led Purdue with 13 points. “We weren’t energized. It seemed like we just stopped playing. That’s one lesson (learned).”

But the Boilermakers (12-7 overall, 3-2 in the Big Ten) had given themselves a chance thanks to an explosive first quarter — Purdue outscored Ohio State (15-5, 5-1) 20-6 in the first 10 minutes — solid defense, particularly on Buckeye star Kelsey Mitchell, and quality work on the glass.

“But we’re close and that’s what hurts worse,” Coach Sharon Versyp said. “When you get beat by 20 or 30, it’s ‘OK.’ But when you know you have an opportunity to win it in the last three-and-a-half minutes, we have to learn and grow from it. We played with no sense of urgency, so we have to look to why that occurred. But we didn’t shoot well. You have to make layups when you have wide-open layups and make free throws, you can’t always make outside shoots if you’re off a little bit.”

Purdue, which had a couple 13-point leads early in the second quarter, seemed to have weathered most of Ohio State’s charges, holding a 54-50 edge midway through the fourth. But after a Buckeyes’ timeout with 5:20, OSU started to take over, holding the Boilermakers without a field goal — and only two free throws — in the final minutes.

Ohio State center Stephanie Mavunga scored four straight to tie, then following a Purdue turnover — it had tried to find Ae’Rianna Harris on a backdoor screen, similar to how the freshman had scored the last field goal, but the pass sailed high — Sierra Calhoun got free at the top of the key. The Buckeye guard nailed the triple, giving Ohio State only its second lead, the first since early in the third quarter.

“Coach had the confidence in me to call that play,” said Calhoun, who finished with eight points and nine rebounds. “It put us up three and I took it with confidence.”

The Boilermakers squandered other opportunities: After a timeout, they committed a shot clock violation, then Morrissette missed back-to-back three-point attempts.

“We definitely had shots,” Morrissette said. “When you go 1-of-15 from three (as a team), that’s obviously a terrible shooting performance. But you’ve got to keep shooting those shots; eventually, we were hoping they were going to fall, but they didn’t.”

Freshman Dominique Oden, who was 1-of-8 from three-point range but scored 12, hit a couple free throws at 39.1, drawing Purdue within one. But Mavunga, who had 11 points and 12 rebounds, got free inside on the next OSU possession, sending the guests back up three. The Boilermakers tried to free up Morrissette on the left wing, but her attempt missed with 7.8 seconds left.

“I think we just played hard,” Calhoun said of the last five minutes. “We wanted to win so bad. We got off to a rocky start, but we made some key stops and got some 50/50 balls that we weren’t getting early in the game.”

The Boilermakers were solid early, breaking down Ohio State’s press to get transition baskets — shockingly, they beat the high-scoring Buckeyes 10-0 in fastbreak points — and take command early. It helped that Purdue, using a matchup zone, flustered Mitchell into a 3-of-17 shooting night, although the junior finished with 14 points.

“Our kids did the game plan and played amazing defense,” Versyp said. “They were aware of wherever she was. We really had to do well rebounding and taking her out of the game, and I think we did those things well.”

But OSU scored 28 points in the second quarter, getting within two at half. And the Buckeyes scored the first three buckets of the third quarter.

Purdue, though, responded, thanks in part to its inside game. Dominique McBryde and Harris combined to make 11-of-16 field goals. McBryde, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, scored six of Purdue’s eight in a third-quarter stretch, helping a 10-3 run that put the Boilermakers back ahead.

And Harris had six points early in the fourth, including on a jumper and the backdoor layup, giving Purdue a 54-50 lead.

“We’ve been looking more to pound it low inside, but not only that but work on our mid-range games,” McBryde said. “I knocked down a mid-range shot and Ae’Rianna did as well. I think that boosted us a lot. Being more aggressive and looking to attack more (helped), rather than passing out.”

Purdue shot 36.1 percent from the field, better than OSU’s 32.3 percent. Both teams committed 18 turnovers, but the Buckeyes had a 17-8 points edge off of them.

The Boilermakers, although they got Nora Kiesler back from a five-game absence, are short-handed, particularly with Perry unavailable. The five starters each played at least 31 minutes, with McBryde going the distance.

“It’s no excuse,” Versyp said. “We’ve had a short bench the last month. It does catch up to you, there’s no question. It’s good to get fresh bodies in. You can’t use it as an excuse but it’s a reality.”

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