Purdue completes rally, beating Indiana in Big Ten tourney quarters
INDIANAPOLIS — When Purdue trailed by 17 points a minute into the second half, Sharon Versyp slumped back into her chair on the sideline.
It looked like the Boilermakers couldn’t find answers.
Then, almost without warning, they did, clamping down on Indiana — a major halftime defensive adjustment had started to take effect — to hold the Hoosiers scoreless for more than seven minutes. And they got a big lift from freshman Dominique Oden, who scored a career-high 24, to complete the rally, winning 66-60 Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, where they'll face top-seed Ohio State.
“Coach came in during halftime and she gave us a choice: Go home or come out and have some pride on defense,” senior Ashley Morissette said following the Boilermakers' sixth straight win. “Purdue is known for defense. In that first half, we had very little, so I think that’s a big reason everyone responded.”
An adjustment helped; after the break, Purdue (21-11) started switching off IU’s 1 through 4 players, leaving only the center to stay locked on. It worked tremendously. The driving lanes off the edge, where the Hoosiers (20-10) were thriving against Purdue’s mix of zone and man defense in the first half, closed off. IU, which shot 50-percent in the first 20 minutes with all six of its three-pointers, bogged down badly.
“You switch 1 through 4, then you don’t let them get the edge,” Coach Sharon Versyp said. “You keep them out of the paint and you don’t have to help as much because you’re not hedging, getting over the top. … Our kids just believed in it and they did a fantastic job doing it.”
And Purdue started hitting shots. Oden started the Boilermaker run, hitting a three-pointer at the 7:18 mark of the third quarter. By the time she hit another, with 48 seconds to go ‘til the fourth, Purdue was within two, 45-43. In between, she had a fast-break layup, part of the 14-0 run that brought the Boilermakers back.
“I need to realize I can go to the basket, too,” said Oden, who had five three-pointers but attacked, too, like on the transition hoop and twice in the fourth quarter. “That’s something I also can do but sometimes I just stand at the three-point line and that just slows me down. But today, I actually got to the basket sometimes and that helped with the three-point game because they were like, ‘Well, she can drive, too.’”
After being fouled on a drive to start the fourth, Oden hit a free throw to draw the Boilermakers within one. Then, following an IU basketball, Morrissette got free for a three-pointer, tying the game at 47 with 7:07 left. It was the only tie of the game.
But the Hoosiers seemed to have stymied the Purdue momentum after Tyra Buss scored on a drive — it was her only basket of the second half following 14 first-half points — to give IU a three-point lead with 2:11 remaining. On back-to-back possessions, however, Dominique McBryde scored on a left-handed shot in the lane, then Andreona Keys had a layup on a dive to her right.
Then, out of a timeout, Purdue executed a near-perfect possession, with the ball going from Morrissette on the right wing, into McBryde on the right block, then immediately back to an open Oden in the corner. The three ball put the Boilermakers up 59-55 with 39 seconds left, leaving Purdue needing only to seal the win at the line.
“I really didn’t want to lose to Indiana again,” said Oden, whose Boilermakers lost in Bloomington in the rivals’ only regular-season meeting. “Because I just feel like we shouldn’t have lost the first time. It’s just something the whole team was like, ‘We’re not losing to them again.’ And that’s something that really got me going.”
The Boilermakers shot only 13 of 31 (41.9 percent) in the second half but didn’t have a turnover after having only six in the first 20 minutes. Morrissette had 21 points with three three-pointers, plus five rebounds and four assists. Senior Bridget Perry had 11 points and eight boards.
Purdue also got a big lift from an unexpected source. Reserve center Nora Kiesler, who had played only the last minute of Purdue’s win over Illinois on Thursday and had only nine minutes of action in the last three games combined, played 13 effectively off the bench.
With Versyp searching for a defensive solution in the first half, Kiesler provided an answer, clogging up the lane and giving instruction to other defenders in front of her. She started the second half.
“You never know when opportunity is going to knock and I always say to stay ready,” said the 6-foot-6 Kiesler, who had two points, two rebounds, two assists and two blocks. “I knew (Thursday) was hard with so many girls playing a lot of minutes and I knew I would have to be ready to step up. Indiana had a big girl who was a good player who I would matchup well with, so I really studied the scout and stayed ready for when my number was called.”
IU center Jenn Anderson finished with eight points but only two in the second half, and she had six turnovers. The Hoosiers shot less than 36 percent for the game, including an abysmal 2 of 17 (11.7 percent) in the third quarter, with only seven field goals total in the second half.
Indiana also won on the glass, 50-32, yet didn’t take full advantage with only 12 second-chance points.
The Boilermakers now play the No. 9 Buckeyes in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Saturday in Bankers Life Fieldhouse. OSU beat Purdue 61-56 in Mackey Arena Jan. 15.
“I believe in every one in this locker room 100 percent and we believe in each other,” Perry said. “We came close last time but at the same time, we can’t compare it to last time, because it’s tournament time when everyone is going to be at their best. So we need to go (Saturday) and play the best basketball we can, play great defense and see what we can do.”
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