Purdue holds off Green Bay, wins NCAA opener
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Dominique Oden is making a habit of this.
With Green Bay mounting a furious rally — Purdue had seen its 18-point lead with nine minutes left shrink to only five seven minutes later — the Boilermaker freshman drifted to an opening on the right wing.
When Bridget Perry found her while falling out of bounds, Oden was ready, just as she had been in wins over Indiana and Ohio State earlier this month in the Big Ten Tournament.
“For your teammates to throw you the ball in situations like that, it’s something I embrace because I know my teammates trust in me,” said Oden, who buried the triple to give Purdue enough cushion as it pulled away again for a 74-62 win in its NCAA opener Friday.
“(Bridget) said to me after the game, ‘I saw you and I knew you were going to make it.’ When your teammate makes a pass like that, there’s no other option than to make it.”
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The ninth-seeded Boilermakers (23-12), who won their first NCAA game since 2014, advance to play top-seed Notre Dame Sunday in South Bend.
Purdue jumped on the Phoenix (27-6) early, with its zone defense and the presence of rim protector Ae’Rianna Harris causing massive issues. By the 9:15-minute mark of fourth quarter, the Boilermakers were up 60-42, having cranked out 22 points in the third quarter to turn an eight-point lead well into double-digits.
The Boilermakers often had answer for Green Bay runs. After trailing by 12 early, it got within six points early in the third, on a Jessica Lindstrom three-pointer, but the Boilermaker defense, like it did in holding the Phoenix without a point for seven first-quarter minutes, clamped down.
GB didn’t score for 3:45, with the Boilermakers going on an 8-0 run to retake control. Purdue took advantage of a trio of Phoenix turnovers, with Ashley Morrissette scoring after a Andreona Keys’ steal, then getting a free throw. Later, Oden had a steal and found Morrissette for a transition jumper.
Then, Oden was slammed into on a run-out, with Green Bay’s Sam Terry being called for a Flagrant 1, with officials telling TV the contact was “excessive.” After her free throw, Purdue was up 43-29 at 6:13 of the third.
“We have a great defensive system and we like to run so we wanted to push tempo this game and get some easy baskets,” said Morrissette, who led Purdue with a game-high 24 points.
The Boilermakers stretched the lead to a dozen-and-a-half, at 60-42, 45 seconds into the fourth quarter. And they did so in dramatic fashion, when Keys hit Harris on the break, ending in an alley-oop layup.
“Honestly, I thought she was going to dunk it because she was right there,” said Oden, who scored 13. “But when she made that play, I thought it was amazing. I definitely said, ‘Good job,’ when we were running back on defense. It was a great play.”
But Green Bay, as it has frequently done with its veteran squad this season, responded by holding Purdue without a field goal for more than seven minutes. The Phoenix scored on two three-pointers, once after multiple rebounds gave second and third chances, and two layups during a 15-2 run.
Mehryn Kraker’s layin on a cut to the basket had the margin down to 62-57 with 2:30 left. But then Oden came free on the next possession, nailing the triple.
At this point, little surprises the Boilermakers about their freshman shooter.
“Like you’ve seen all season, she’s hit big shots for us,” Keys said. “And that three, we needed that because it gave us an extra basket and boosted up our lead. We knew we could go down and get a stop.”
Purdue got a lot of stops, holding Green Bay to less than 33-percent shooting while turning 12 turnovers into 16 points. Harris was a big reason, as the freshman post clogged up the lane and allowed Purdue’s zone to cover the Phoenix on the perimeter; they hit only 10-of-36 three-pointers. Kraker, who led Green Bay with 23 points, made just five of her 17 attempts from deep.
“That’s what we were trying to do, trying to take away the three as much as possible,” Coach Sharon Versyp said. “When they would drive down, we would shade out as much as possible. We tried to clog it up and Ae’Rianna and Dom (McBryde) did a good job of doing that. But we wanted them to shoot twos, not threes, and I thought we did that exceptionally well for three quarters.”
Harris, who had three blocks and seven rebounds, was effective on the offensive end, too, hitting all six of her shots in scoring 12 points. She was the recipient of a couple lobs, including the one on the fastbreak.
“She was huge,” said Keys, who had nine points, seven rebounds and six assists. “We were throwing lobs to her all day. There was one pass, when I heard the whole bench screaming, ‘No. no.’ But she went up and got it and scored. She’s just big down low. You know she’s going to grab the ball and make a good decision.”
Morrissette led Purdue with the 24 points, hitting 7-of-16 shots, including three three-pointers. The senior helped Purdue get off to a quick start, with a jumper and triple in the opening minutes, but it was the defense that was the spark. Green Bay went seven scoreless minutes, allowing Purdue a 15-0 run and a 17-3 lead with 2:50 to go in the first quarter.
“We didn’t really get comfortable,” Green Bay coach Kevin Borseth said. “That’s a good way to describe that.”
The Boilermakers hit 51.2 percent of their shots, but had 23 turnovers, offset somewhat by winning on the glass, 39-27, although Green Bay had 18 second-chance points.
Now, the Boilermakers, winners of eight of their last nine, get Notre Dame on Sunday. They’re ready.
“I’m excited to be here and want to play with my teammates as long as I can,” Oden said, “because it’s the seniors last year and I want to make it last.”
