December 19, 1998
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Stephanie White-McCarty scored 25 points as No. 3 Purdue beat No. 4 Louisiana Tech 71-65 Saturday, almost the identical score by which the Lady Techsters ousted the Boilermakers from last season's NCAA tournament.
Purdue's victory in the sixth annual Boilermaker Blockbuster at Market Square Arena also marked the first time since the 1991-92 season a team has beaten both Tennessee and Louisiana Tech in the regular season. Purdue defeated then-No. 1 Tennessee last month in West Lafayette, Ind.
The only other loss this season for Louisiana Tech (8-2) was to Tennessee three weeks ago.
Purdue (7-1), which lost to Louisiana Tech 72-65 in the NCAA Midwest Regional last spring, took revenge behind the scoring of White-McCarty and double-figures contributions by Katie Douglas with 19 points and Ukari Figgs with 18.
Amanda Wilson led Louisiana Tech with 16 points. Shaka Massey added 14 points and LaQuan Stallworth finished with 12.
Purdue led only 40-37 at halftime, but a basket by White-McCarty with four minutes left gave the Boilermakers a 66-55 lead. Louisiana Tech then went on an 8-0 run and cut the deficit to 66-63 on a 3-pointer by Wilson with 2:10 remaining. White-McCarty hit two free throws, then a layup by Massey with 38 seconds left were the Lady Techsters' final points.
Camille Cooper hit a free throw with 13.5 seconds left and Douglas added two to seal the victory with 1.9 seconds to go.