Turnovers plague Purdue in loss to Ohio
The Boilermakers couldn't hold on to the ball.
Purdue turned it over 33 times vs. Ohio Sunday afternoon in Mackey Arena, with the Bobcats turning those into 36 points as the Boilermakers lost 77-71. It's Purdue's second defeat to a MAC program in the last week, after falling to Ball State at home on Monday.
"We played scared," said senior Andreona Keys, who led Purdue with 20 points. "We let them get us out of what we do and we don't want that many turnovers obviously. That's ridiculous, to have 33 turnovers. We just weren't focused and determined to not turn the ball over and score and do what we normally do when we win."
The Boilermakers (6-5) committed 19 first-half turnovers, then 10 more in the third quarter, as Ohio took a 56-52 lead into the four quarter. The turnover plague twice included stretches of five possessions in a row, once in the second quarter, then again on the first five attempts of the third.
After the Boilermakers committed Nos. 31 and 32 — consecutively — in the fourth the Bobcats took a 63-56 lead with more than six minutes remaining. Purdue pulled within one after Lamina Cooper hit a three, then two Keys' free throws, to end a 9-3 run. But a Gabby Burris three-pointer — it hit the rim twice, then the backboard, before falling in — put the Bobcats (5-3) back up four. And it reached seven moments later on a Alexis Stover layup.
The margin was five when Purdue committed its final turnover, when Karissa McLaughlin set her heel out of bounds while looking to drive to the basket with 13 seconds left, sealing Ohio's win. It was the Bobcats' first at a Big Ten venue since beating Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1994 and improved their record vs. league foes to 6-35 all-time. One of those was an earlier trip to Purdue, a win back in 1982.
"So just a couple years ago," Ohio coach Bob Boldon deadpanned. "I guess this isn't as historic as I thought. But yeah, to come in here and play these guys. When you watch (Purdue), they way they move the ball and the shots they're getting — they're coming off a game they scored 95 points (in a win over Valpo) — we thought, 'How are we going to slow them down?' And we're coming off a couple losses.
"I think it speak to our kids ability to really dig in and take advantage of this opportunity."
For a bit, it looked like Purdue might be able to weather its turnover barrage, taking a lead, 31-29, midway through the second quarter on Keys' layup. But the TOs began again, five in five possessions over a two-minute span.
Still, Purdue managed to lead by one, 37-36, at the break, after Dominique Oden's late triple, despite having nearly has many turnovers (19) as field goal attempts (20, with 13 makes) in the first 20 minutes.
Purdue then opened the second half with five consecutive possessions with a turnover, an over-and-back, two throw-aways, a jump ball and an Ae'Rianna Harris charge. By the end of the stretch, Ohio had a 44-37 lead. But the Boilermakers rallied, tying the game on an Oden three with three minutes left in the quarter, then taking the edge on Harris' layup. But they turned the ball over on the last three possessions of the third quarter.
"When we got shots off, (our offense) was OK," said Oden, whose team shot 47 percent (23-of-49) from the field. "The problem was getting good shots off and making good shots, instead of throwing the ball off. We didn't run our offense as good as we normally do."
Cooper had 18 points, her third consecutive game with a career high, while Oden had 17. Ohio, led by 17 from Amani Burke, hit 10-of-16 three-pointers. Purdue shot 48 percent and out-rebounded Ohio 38-22, but was undone by the turnovers. Every starter had at least four. It was the Boilermakers' first game of more than 30 turnovers since having 34 at Illinois in 2013.
"They jumped passing lanes. We didn't meet passes," Coach Sharon Versyp said of the Bobcats. "We didn't screen well. We didn't handle the ball when they switched aggressively on us. We were just weak with the basketball and when we passed the ball, we didn't move to get open. That's just a lot of effort and pride, and it didn't happen."
Purdue is now off for a week for finals, looking to reload when it returns.
"Come together and figure out what is stopping us from reaching our potential," Keys said. "We don't have to be there right now, but we're getting out of non-conference and starting to get close to the Big Ten. This week is going to be great for us, to figure it out, come together once finals are over and focus on basketball because we won't have any school."
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