March 2, 2001
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Purdue's Katie Douglas was slowed by an ankle injury and Ohio State pushed the Boilermakers to double overtime in the teams' last meeting.
A healthy Douglas had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists Friday as No. 8 Purdue beat Ohio State 81-61 in a quarterfinal round of the Big Ten tournament.
Purdue (25-5), the tournament's top-seeded team, advanced to Saturday's semifinals at Van Andel Arena. The Boilermakers will play Michigan, which earlier in the day upset No. 19 Penn State 66-60.
When Purdue and Ohio State met 19 days ago, the Boilermakers needed a layup by Douglas with 17 seconds remaining in the second overtime to secure a victory. On Friday, Purdue seized control early and Douglas had plenty of help.
Four Purdue players scored in double figures: Douglas, Erika Valek and Camille Cooper, who had 14 points apiece, and Kelly Komara, with 10 points.
"I think we were the aggressors from the get-go," said Douglas, the conference's player of the year for the second straight season. "We were getting out in transition to get our offense going and not letting their defense get set."
Poor shooting hurt the Buckeyes, who hit only 25.8 percent (8 of 31) from the floor in the first half and 36.4 percent (20 of 55) for the game.
The Boilermakers pulled away when Douglas hit a basket for a 29-23 lead at 6:02 of the first half. Purdue scored nine of the next 12 points to take a 40-26 lead, capped by Valek's layup with 2:49 left.
Courtney Coleman made a layup and a foul shot to pull the Buckeyes within 40-29 at halftime, but Purdue pulled away in the second half, building its lead to 23 twice.
Coleman finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Jamie Lewis had 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Buckeyes.
"The game was not as close today as it was at home," Lewis said. "We didn't rebound as well as we could have. We didn't look for shots like we needed to and they were very physical."
The best play of the game came with just under three minutes remaining. Breaking downcourt after an Ohio State turnover, Komara started falling as she encountered a defender near midcourt. As Komara was spinning to the ground, she flung a 40-foot pass toward the basket to Douglas, who went in untouched for a layup that gave Purdue a 77-58 lead.
"There's a reason they (the Boilermakers) are who they are and I felt they came out today and played with great toughness and did the things they needed to do that frustrated us a little bit early and they continued to do so all afternoon," Ohio State coach Beth Burns said.
Purdue made only nine turnovers to Ohio State's 21, and had 11 steals to the Buckeyes' three. The Buckeyes held the rebounding edge, 42-32.
"We didn't have a turnover the second half," Purdue head coach Kristy Curry said. "I think you definitely give it (credit for good ball control) to our perimeter. I think they did a really nice job taking care of the ball."