Indiana uses big second half to put away Purdue in WNIT
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — This is not where Andreona Keys wanted it to end.
But it did; her career — and Purdue's season — came to a halt on the home court of rival Indiana in the third round of the WNIT Thursday night.
"To end your season here (stinks)," the senior captain said following Purdue's 73-51 loss in front of 5,564 fans, Assembly Hall's biggest crowd since 2012. "But to end it anywhere (stinks). It would have nice to go to the Elite Eight, but (the loss) happened."
It did, in a lot of similar ways to the first two meetings this season, when IU also beat the Boilermakers (20-14). The Hoosiers (20-14) held Purdue to less than 55 points in each, dominated in the paint — it was 42-28 there Thursday — and were efficient on offense, shooting nearly 55 percent with only nine turnovers in the tourney game.
Tyra Buss had 24 to lead the Hoosiers, one of four in double-figures.
"They have a lot of dangerous weapons, a lot of people who can score the ball," Keys said. "They were physical. Both times we played them here — our defense wa a lot better (in Mackey) — they kept finding openings. We'd have miscommunications on defense, something like that, they capitalized."
None more so than in the third quarter.
After leading by seven at the break and by as many as 12 in the first half, the Hoosiers took over after halftime. In the opening minutes of the third, Dominique Oden's triple brought Purdue to within six, 40-34, but the Boilermakers scored only five more before the fourth.
And the Hoosiers took advantage, scoring 19 over the final seven minutes of the third to take a 59-39 edge. When Buss hit a three-pointer at the 8:46 mark of the fourth, IU was up by 21.
"It was everything," Coach Sharon Versyp said. "They played well. They played physical. We made some mistakes, but bottom line they played better than us during that third quarter."
Most of Purdue's offense came from Oden, who scored 20 on 8-of-14 shooting, with Keys adding 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Her career, with 109 career starts and as one of Purdue's best all-around players, is over, and she was mad to see it end.
"I think that's holding back a lot of my sad emotion right now," she said, "because I'm just mad that we lost."
Freshman Karissa McLaughlin, who saw her consecutive minutes streak end at 365, finished with eight points and was held without an assist, as Purdue's offense struggled to find a rhythm. The Boilermakers shot only 33 percent from the field, including a 3-of-12 third quarter, with 15 turnovers, but did damage on the boards, with 17 second-chance points. Ae'Rianna Harris had 10 rebounds and four blocks but only two points on 1-of-11 shooting.
"You've got to make some layups," Versyp said. "She hasn't played like that all year. It's difficult, but we hung in there, 38-31 (at the half).
"But I'm really proud of this group. A lot of people can be negative, however, we lost four kids from last year and four kids (during) this year. And we had two kids who didn't practice all year starting in January. When you practice with four or five kids, it's really difficult when you don't have a huge bench."
Purdue hopes to remedy that next season, when it returns all but Keys, gets a few back from injury and illness plus adds a three-player recruiting class. The Boilermakers hope they can take lessons from the WNIT — it is why they chose to play, particularly on the road — into next year.
"We just have to play smart, together as a team the whole game," Oden said. "Because I feel like we played in spurts and that's what really hurts us. In the third quarter, that's what really hurt us. If we play the way we played in the first half and the fourth quarter, with that hustle and that fight, for the whole game, it'd be a lot better."
And now Purdue will have to find a way to beat its rival. The Boilermakers lost all three against the Hoosiers this season, two in Assembly and one in Mackey, being swept in the season series for the first time since 1985.
"Hopefully, the tides are turning," IU coach Teri Moren said.
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