1/28/2018 basketball Edit

Record-setting day as Purdue blitzes Penn State

Kyle Charters • BoilerUpload

Staff Writer

On a day the Boilermakers were clad in pink, they played red hot.

The Boilermakers, raising cancer awareness in their Pink Zone game, shot a blistering — and record-setting — pace on Sunday afternoon in beating Penn State 88-73 in Mackey Arena. Purdue (14-8 overall, 5-3 in the Big Ten) made 73.5 percent of its field goals, beating the previous school record of 68.9 vs. Eastern Illinois in 1981. It was also the second-best ever by a Big Ten team and highest in a conference game.

The onslaught was sustained; Purdue shot 78.6 percent in the first quarter, 70 in the second, 66.7 in the third and 80 in the fourth. At no point during the game did the Boilermakers' shooting percent even ever drop below 68.9, the previous record.

“The team really played at a higher level, the highest level,” said Coach Sharon Versyp, one of the cancer survivors, many wearing pink, inside Mackey Arena. “Stars aligned, knocked down shots and shared the basketball, they did so many great things. Absolutely was amazing to watch.”

Ae'Rianna Harris scored a career-high 27 by hitting 12-of-14 field goals, the two misses being makable layups, while Dominique Oden had 21 on 9-of-11. Andreona Keys made six of her 10 for 17 points, while Karissa McLaughlin had a career-high 11 assists and 10 points.

Oden said the Boilermakers were playing for Versyp, along with staff members Beth Couture and Terry Kix, both of whom are also cancer survivors.

“(We) said we want to play for something bigger,” Oden said. “We want to play for our coaches, and that was right off the bat. And we were also recovering from a loss (at Nebraska), so it’s like, ‘You don’t want to lose again.’ We just came out and played together, played as a team, and that’s what made the offense click.”

Purdue, which made its first four field goals, led from the start, but couldn't completely put away PSU (13-9, 4-5) until the fourth quarter. In a two-minute span midway through the quarter, Oden hit a jumper, then McLaughlin, running through a Versyp stop sign, found Keys in the paint on the fast break. The freshman's 11th assist gave the Boilermakers a 14-point lead. It went to 17 on the next possession, when McLaughlin hit a triple trailing on the break.

“My teammates were hitting shots today,” said McLaughlin, whose team had 28 assists on its 36 field goals, against 15 turnovers. “That was key. We played at a whole other level.”

Purdue nearly created a disaster at the end of the third when after a missed layup — Keys might have been fouled — Oden committed a personal with 2.7 seconds left. Not liking the series of non-foul/foul, Purdue's bench was assessed a technical, leading to four PSU free throws; it made three, cutting the margin from 11 to eight.

“I was yelling at the team, just like at Notre Dame,” Versyp explained while harkening back to a previous technical, “and people just have soft skin. I wasn’t talking to (the officials).”

As it turned out, though, the T didn't matter. Purdue started the fourth like it had the previous three, with Tamara Farquhar hitting a jumper and converting her own steal into a fast-break layup. Then, a couple minutes later, Purdue used a 7-0 run, the one capped by McLaughlin's triple, to force a Nittany Lion timeout at 5:33 up 78-61.

“I think they came in with a lot of emotion for this game,” PSU coach Coquese Washington said, “a lot of determination. They shot the ball very well early, which I’m sure gave them a lot more confidence. They got transition baskets that helped them start to gain momentum early. You put all those things together and they had a fantastic night offensively.”

Harris was incredible, taking feeds in the post and getting them on the backboard and in, frequently while contorting her body in the air to create the best opportunity. She also hit a jumper, her 10th straight make to start the game, a 15-footer on the baseline for an 11-point lead midway through the third quarter. But her next shot, on the next possession, was the first of two misses, both in the paint and conceivably makable.

“The first one, the lob, I kind of tripped and fell forward," said Harris, who added eight rebounds, four assists (with only a turnover) and two blocks. “so that was that. The other one, I didn’t realize where I was at. I was too far under the basket, so when I came up I was leaning back. But yeah, I probably could have been perfect.”

Oden couldn't recall her two misses, but the makes were impressive, as the sophomore hit from all over the court. She converted both of her three-pointers, and had an array of pull-ups in the mid-range.

“That’s something that was like, ‘Well, you obviously can do this (mid-range), so why don’t you actually show it in the game?’" Oden said. "I just felt really comfortable with it, especially when I’ve been shooting the three and they know I’m a three-point shooter, so they’re flying out at me and leaving the lane wide open. That makes it way easier, because no one is even there. And it’s a comfortable shot for me.”

The Boilermakers led 28-18 after the first quarter and weathered foul trouble in the second to maintain a 10-point lead at halftime.

Purdue finished 36-of-49 from the field, 5-8 from three-point range and 11-of-12 at the line. PSU, which shot 42 percent, was led by Teniya Page's 25 points.

“I really love this team,” Versyp said. “We have highs and lows, but they try to be really focused and we tried to be energized all week after Nebraska. When they started the game, you could feel it. I sensed it right away. They showed more emotion today than they have in other games, and that was a big boost for me as a coach.”

Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?

Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook

More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast