A 'bittersweet' loss for Purdue, as rally falls short in overtime
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Purdue could have quit.
Down a dozen at the half after giving up 32 points in the second quarter.
Down 16 with four minutes to go in the third.
Down 10 with five minutes remaining.
But it didn’t. Instead, the Boilermakers kept up a furious rally Sunday, going on a 10-0 run in the final 5:18 to force an overtime — only after failing to get off a potential game-winning shot at the end of regulation — before falling to top-seed Notre Dame 88-82 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The ninth-seeded Boilermakers see their season come to end an with a 23-13 record, exiting about as loudly as possible, coming up just short of pulling off what would have been one of the biggest upsets of the college basketball season.
“This team has so much fight and so much heart,” said senior Ashley Morrissette, who had game-highs of 23 points and 10 assists in the last game of her Purdue career. “And we’ve been saying it all year, we’ve got each others’ backs, and you saw that in the game tonight. We’re never down, we’re never out. I’m so proud of them for putting up a great fight and sending us out on a bittersweet note.”
The only thing better would have been one more shot. The Boilermakers had a chance at the end of regulation, after their 10-0 run saw them tie the game on two Bridget Perry free throws with 32.5 seconds left. After getting a stop, Purdue called timeout with 4.5 seconds remaining.
But when Purdue couldn’t get a lob in to Ae’Rianna Harris — it was well defended by the Fighting Irish (32-3) — the Boilermakers had to scramble. And it left Morrissette to take a late handoff from Dominique Oden.
“And we just didn’t get the shot off in time,” Morrissette said.
It might have been the Boilermakers’ best chance to win. Yet, they still had moments in overtime, scoring two of the first three baskets for a 78-76 lead with 3:08 left. But a 6-0 Notre Dame run, the last basket awkwardly banked in by Marina Mabrey, with only three seconds left on the shot clock, that put the hosts up 82-78 and forced a Purdue timeout at 1:12.
A possession later, Perry hit two free throws, bringing Purdue back to within two. But Oden fouled on the next possession — Sharon Versyp later said she didn’t want a foul, hoping to get the ball back because of the four-second differential between shot and game clocks — with Mabrey’s two free throws pushing the lead back to four at 13 seconds. And Purdue never again got a chance to tie.
“We obviously didn’t make a couple shots down the stretch, or could have won it in regulation, but a heck of a basketball game,” Versyp said at the post-game press conference. “I’ll miss these two sitting next to me right here (in seniors Morrissette and Perry). They really rebuilt our culture at Purdue and they’re the most competitive group of seniors we’ve had. I’ll miss both of them dearly, they were amazing tonight.”
They were. Morrissette and Perry combined for 45 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists, two blocks and a steal. But most importantly, they kept the Boilermakers grinding toward a comeback, with their repeated charges being turned away before the last one in regulation.
The Fighting Irish took control in the second quarter, scoring 32 points, the most in a quarter that Purdue has allowed in two seasons, on 14-of-20 shooting. It turned a 17-13 Purdue lead after the first quarter into a 45-33 Notre Dame advantage at the half.
But late in the first half, Notre Dame suffered a personnel loss, perhaps a major one, when All-America center Brianna Turner suffered a non-contact left knee injury while attempting a layup. Turner, who had scored four straight layups to stretch the lead to 14, went straight to the locker room and watched the second half from the bench. She’ll have an MRI on Monday.
The Boilermakers made a couple runs in the third quarter, getting the margin to eight on a Morrissette three-pointer at 7:35. But a 12-4 ND run — by the end of it, the Irish had hit 20 of their previous 28 shots, dating to the start of the second quarter — pushed the Irish to a 60-44 lead with four minutes remaining in the third.
But Purdue scored nine straight, with a triple by Morrissette and a layup by Harris, who found more room with Turner out, to get within seven at the 1:50 mark. Again, though, Notre Dame responded, pushing the margin by 66-55 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Morrissette scored seven straight for Purdue to open the fourth, getting Purdue within six. But Purdue's bench picked up a technical foul, while the Boilermakers had the ball, with Versyp explaining later that she was yelling at her players, not an official. ND used the free throws to spur its own push, getting the lead back to 10, 74-64, with just more than five minutes left.
As soon as Notre Dame looked like it had weathered Purdue’s last push, Purdue made one more. The Boilermakers clamped down on defense and made shots: Morrissette had a jumper, followed by a Perry layup. Oden hit a triple. Then a free throw by Morrissette, a layup by Perry and then her two game-tying free throws.
“We were able to get stops and we attacked,” said Perry, who had 22 points and nine rebounds. “We really take pride in our defense, so that’s what we did. We blocked out and started accumulating knowledge of what they were doing.”
But the Irish made more plays in overtime, ending the Boilermakers’ magical late-season run, which saw them push to the NCAA Tournament by winning seven in the row, then get a win in the Dance. The culmination was in front of a raucous Notre Dame crowd in Purcell Pavilion late Sunday night.
“Speechless,” Versyp said. “We just told them that this is just a special group. You don’t want it to end. When you have kids who are loyal, trust you 100 percent, no drama, just have your back. That’s what Bridget and Ashley created for everybody. We’re playing such great basketball, we don’t want it to end.
“It was a battle, just our last six, seven weeks of basketball was at a high level. The confidence and the mindset, we’ve got to carry that on. We played free, and I thought that was a big reason we were successful.”
Oden scored 16 on 6-of-10 shooting for Purdue, while Harris had 12 points and eight boards. The Boilermakers shot 44.1 percent with only 11 turnovers, and they played even on the boards.
Notre Dame made 47.2 percent of its field goals, including the 70-percent mark in the second quarter. But it had only three field goals in the fourth. Mabrey had a team-high 21 points, one of five in double-figures. One of those was Turner, who played only 15 first-half minutes, with 10 points, before the injury.
As the game ended, Purdue had a chance to take Morrissette out of the game — only 0.1 seconds remained on the clock — and she came to the sideline for an extended embrace with Versyp. It's the end of a great career.
“We go way back to her freshman year, when it wasn’t so pretty,” Versyp said, remembering back to when the then-rookie barely played, then considered transferring. “I just love that kid, she’s just a competitor, and her growth and transformation this year, I don’t think I’ve seen a player mature in so many ways. She can barely walk now, but is just the heart and soul of this team, has been. I’m more proud of her emotional leadership.
“I don’t think either of us wanted to let go. That’s a hug I’ll always remember. It was a really special moment and I just whispered in her ear how much I loved her.”
