Purdue embracing underdog role at Notre Dame
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Boilermakers will embrace their underdog role on Sunday.
Because really, they have no other choice.
Purdue (23-12), the No. 9-seed in the Lexington Region, takes on No. 2 and top-seeded Notre Dame (31-3) at 9:05 p.m. Sunday in Purcell Pavilion in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It’s the decided underdog, with the Fighting Irish having a more accomplished season plus the home-court advantage.
But the Boilermakers, winners of eight of their last nine including a victory over Green Bay on Friday, might be able to claim at least one edge, because the pressure is off.
“There isn’t (pressure), because obviously Notre Dame is a top team in the country,” junior Andreona Keys said. “They’re a great team, but nobody expects us to win. We’re the lower seed and we just have to go out and play our best ball. If we’re confident in ourselves, that’s all we need.”
And Purdue has reason to be confident. In winning eight of nine, the Boilermakers are playing their best of the season, as the results have shown. In the Big Ten Tournament, they toppled ninth-ranked Ohio State in the semifinals, then competed with No. 4 Maryland before losing by 10 in the championship game.
Coach Sharon Versyp, whose team was the only lower seed to win an opening game on the first day of the NCAA (although it was favored), says the Irish compare to the Terrapins in personnel. They’ve both got great guard play — the senior point guard, Lindsay Allen, is flanked by Arike Ogunbowale (15.1 points per game) and Marina Mabrey (14.2).
Inside, Brianna Turner is ND’s leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 15.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, but she’s not the big physical presence of Maryland’s Brionna Jones.
Notre Dame averages nearly 80 points per game and has its second-most three-pointers in a season in school history, averaging about 5.7 per game.
“They just have weapons everywhere on the floor,” Versyp said of the Fighting Irish, who have been a No. 1 seed six NCAA tourneys in a row and have reached a Final Four in four of the last five seasons. “They have great three-point shooting, a very athletic post player (in Turner) who can score in a variety of ways. Their point guard, Lindsay Allen, is one of the best point guards out there.
“The challenge is to limit something, you’re not going to take everything away, whether you let them shoot all twos by making it difficult for them to shoot threes. They’re a top team in the country for all those reasons; they’re very efficient, one of the best passing teams in the country, so we have to play our defense, which we’ve played very well all season.”
That would give the Boilermakers an opportunity. The difference, Versyp says, might be in Purdue’s ability on the glass, where Notre Dame is a plus-seven on average this season. It hurt Purdue against Maryland in the Big Ten, particularly because of Jones, and the Irish hit the glass well, too.
It could be on Bridget Perry and Dominique McBryde to slow them down.
“Our 4 players need to be solid,” Versyp said. “It doesn’t mean they need to score a ton of points but we have to be able to rebound offensively and defensively and score some points. … Those are going to be the X factor areas.”
But Purdue vows to be ready, even if odds are stacked against.
“It is what it is,” Keys said. “We’re the lower seed and they’ve been known to win. But we accept he challenge all the time and no matter who we play, we’re ready.”
