Jan 24, 2002
By DAN GELSTON
Associated Press Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Mary Jo Noon is one college student who listens to her father's advice.
"You can't miss your first three shots," she said. "Miss all three and it goes downhill."
Noon made her first three shots and rarely missed again, finishing with a career-high 27 points and 11 rebounds as No. 10 Purdue beat Illinois 86-77 Thursday night to tie a team record with 21 straight wins at Mackey Arena.
The Boilermakers' (15-3, 6-2 Big Ten) last home loss was in November 2000 against Louisiana Tech, and they will attempt to set the record Sunday against Iowa. The previous mark was set over the 1997-98 to 1999-00 seasons.
Noon's previous best was 23 points earlier this year against Notre Dame. She was coming off an 18-point effort against Indiana and was averaging 12.6 points in her first year as a starter.
Noon missed most of last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and was redshirted her freshman season after foot surgery.
Now, she's healthy and confident and hopes to continue a recent pattern of fast starts.
"That's big for me," she said. "If I make the first two or three shots, my confidence raises so high. It's important for me to go in from the get-go and concentrating on making those shots."
Iveta Marcauskaite and Cindy Dallas led Illinois (12-6, 5-3) with 19 points each.
Purdue, which also got 18 points from Laura Meadows, opened a 15-point lead early in the second half before Illinois went on a 12-4 run to make it 62-55. But Kelly Komara hit a jumper and followed with a layup off a turnover to push the lead back to 11 points.
"Sometimes we do have lapses and let teams back, but our runs are going to be longer," Komara said.
A jumper by Angelina Williams made it 72-65 with 4{ minutes remaining, but the Illini got no closer.
Komara had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Shereka Wright added 17 points for Purdue. Wright was bothered by a sore thigh and only shot nine times but went 11-for-12 from the line.
"It's be aggressive, get to the basket, get to the free-throw line," she said. "That's basically what I was trying to do. I try to use my quickness against a lot of players. That's the advantage that I have and I try to take advantage of it."
Noon shoot 11-for-18 and led the way for a 42-26 advantage in the paint.
"She had an absolute field day," said Illinois coach Theresa Grentz. "We kind of backed down and that's disappointing."
Purdue coach Kristy Curry said Noon is becoming more consistent and adjusting to her role as a go-to scorer.
"I hope it's a breakout night," she said. "I think our kids have confidence throwing it to her and she has confidence finishing. I think it took her some time to adjust to her role. Instead of being the spark, she had to find consistency."
Shavonna Hunter added 17 points and Williams 11 for Illinois.
Hunter hit a 3 for Illinois to cut the gap to 29-27 with 3:30 left in the first half. But the Boilermakers closed the half with a 14-5 surge, capped by a 3 from Meadows at the buzzer to hold a 43-32 lead.
Meadows matched her season-high point total and a set a personal best with three 3-pointers.
The Boilermakers had won their previous eight home games by an average of 29.1 points. Their slimmest margin of victory at home was 13 points against Notre Dame.
Purdue also has won 16 straight at home against Illinois and 19 straight Big Ten home games, with the last loss coming to Penn State in December 2000.
Noon planned on celebrating her performance with her family. She said she could already hear what her dad would say.
"He'll call me and say 'good job, but go out and practice some more,"' Noon said.