Nov. 15, 2001
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's basketball team concluded its exhibition season with an 80-65 victory over the Ohio Girls Basketball Magazine Legends in Mackey Arena tonight. The 11th-ranked Boilermakers, who are 0-1 in the regular season after suffering an 80-75 loss to No. 4 Oklahoma on Nov. 11, went 2-0 in the 2001-02 exhibition season.
Purdue started out sluggish, turning the ball over six times before six minutes had elapsed. The Boilermakers trailed 12-8 at the 14:12 mark, but scored the game's next five points to grab their first lead with 13:21 remaining.
Purdue and OGBM traded leads four times and were tied five times down the stretch, finishing the first half deadlocked at 34.
After spending all 15 minutes of the intermission in the locker room, the Boilermakers found renewed vigor in the second half. Despite finding themselves down 38-34 in the early going, Purdue responded with a 14-0 run, book-ended with three-pointers by sophomore shooting guard Beth Jones, to build a 10-point lead at the 14:20 mark.
OGBM cut the lead to three at 48-45, but a 10-4 Purdue spurt put the visitors back down by 11 with 8:10 to play. OGBM got no closer as the clock wound down, as the Boilermakers went ahead by as many as 17 before the game expired.
All four Purdue starters scored in double figures, led by Jones' 18 points. Jones connected on 6 of 9 treys, with the six makes coming consecutively. Senior forward Laura Meadows and sophomore forward Shereka Wright both added 14, while junior center Mary Jo Noon finished with 10. Meadows and Noon were just shy of recording double-doubles, with nine assists and nine rebounds, respectively.
Larecha Jones, a former standout at Ohio State, led OGBM with 27 points on 12 of 25 shooting from the field. Former Boilermaker Jannon Roland scored 19 with five rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and a steal.
Purdue shot 44.6 percent from the field, a figure helped by 52.6 percent shooting in the second half. The Boilermakers made 10 of 25 three-pointers (40 percent), but struggled from the free throw line, hitting just 4 of 12 charity tosses (33.3 percent).
Despite the early turnover problem, the Boilermakers finished with just 10 for the game, playing the last 26 minutes nearly error-free. At the same time, Purdue recorded assists on 25 of 33 baskets.
Purdue resumes regular-season action on Sunday, Nov. 11, when it hosts Eastern Illinois at 2 p.m. in Mackey Arena. It will be the first game in a three-game homestand that also includes Valparaiso (Nov. 20) and Southern Mississippi (Nov. 25).
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