November 10, 1998
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.- The Purdue women's basketball team defeated the Dynamo Club Russian team in its second exhibition game at home on Nov. 10 with a score of 87-60. Three players led the Boilermakers in scoring on the night, including senior guard Ukari Figgs with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists, freshman guard Kelly Komara with 17 points and senior guard/forward Stephanie White-McCarty with 17 points, seven assists and five boards. Sophomore guard Katie Douglas also finished in double figures with 14 points, five rebounds and three steals. Purdue held the Dynamo Club to 40.4% shooting for the game, while shooting 51.1% itself, including hitting 33.3% of its three-pointers and 70.6% of its shots from the charity stripe.
Purdue coach Carolyn Peck is glad to come up with two victories in the Boilermakers' first two exhibition games.
"Our exhibition experience is over," Peck said. "We came out of it 2-0. We are happy about that. We saw some good things, and there are some things that we need to work on. Kelly Komara was a spark for us off the bench, and I think Tiffany Young did a great job for us off the bench, as well, especially defensively. It was a little bit of a struggle to get our inside game going because we are so guard-strong, but Camille was a huge presence for us on the inside. It is good to get these two games under our belt, and now it is time to start preparing for our regular season."
Komara provided a tremendous lift off the bench, showing that the freshman guard is adjusting smoothly in her first season in West Lafayette
"She came in off the bench and did a great job," Figgs said. "I think after a little while, we were dragging a little bit, and she came in with some fresh legs and hit some shots and did some good things on defense. It really helped us out a lot."
"She is a sponge," Peck said. She is very knowledgeable of the game, and she picks up things very quickly. That is a very positive thing to see, to have a freshman that will pick up and not only learn the offenses that we are doing, but also the level of intensity that you have to play with."
One of Purdue's obstacles in the game was dealing with the Dynamo Club's zone defense in the first half. White-McCarty feels that playing against the zone gave the Boilermakers some good experience, which Purdue can build on in preparation for the regular season.
"I think that they were matching up really well with all the shooters on the inside," White-McCarty said. "They did give us some problems. We just needed to concentrate on our offenses and that would open up things. We kind of forced it there for a little while, but that is something that we need to learn and work on."
The Boilermakers will open up their regular season on Nov. 15 at home against the three-time defending national champions Tennessee Lady Vols at 4:30 p.m.