Feb. 5, 2006
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Katie Gearlds scored 17 points and No. 8 Purdue capitalized on Penn State's sloppy second-half play with hot outside shooting in a 72-61 win over the Lady Lions on Sunday.
Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton added 12 points and eight rebounds as the Boilermakers (18-3, 10-1 Big Ten) hit nine of their first 11 shots after halftime to break open a tight game. The Boilermakers overcame 29 points from Penn State's Amanda Brown and stayed atop the Big Ten race with the win.
Leading 34-30 at the half, Wisdom-Hylton opened a 21-4 second-half run with a 17-foot jumper. Aya Traore closed the spurt with a layup after stealing the ball from Mashea Williams to give Purdue a 55-35 lead with about 13 minutes remaining.
The Boilermakers then got sloppy, too. Penn State (10-12, 4-7) forced some turnovers and Charity Renfro's desperation 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down got the Lady Lions within 65-56 with just more than four minutes left in the game.
But Penn State then had trouble getting off a good shot and Purdue hit its free throws late. The Boilermakers bounced back from a 77-71 overtime loss to Iowa on Thursday that snapped a 13-game winning streak.
Brown shot 12-of-14 from the field and had eight rebounds to lead the Lady Lions, while Renfro added eight points and five boards.
Down 11-4 early in the first half, Penn State got back in the game with good defense and inside buckets from Brown.
Williams blocked Shareka Webb from behind to prevent a fastbreak layup. A block by Penn State's Kamela Gissendanner led to a Brown layup, then Brown put in an offensive rebound on the next possession to cap the Lady Lions' 17-4 run that gave them a 21-15 lead midway through the first half.
Penn State squandered its next couple possessions with bad passes, Purdue picked up its defense and Danielle Campbell hit a 15-footer as time expired in the first half to give the Boilermakers a 34-30 lead at the break.