Feb. 21, 2010
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Purdue women's basketball team suffered a narrow loss at the University Illinois on Sunday, continuing its road woes with a 61-57 loss to the Fighting Illini. Despite one of their top shooting performances of the season from the floor (19-for-44, 43.2%), the Boilermakers made just 14-of-27 free throws and were outrebounded 38-23, including 14 offensive rebounds for Illinois.
Boilermaker sophomore Brittany Rayburn got off to a quick start for the Boilermakers, scoring five points in the first 1:30 to lead the Old Gold and Black to a 7-0 advantage. It took the Fighting Illini nearly four minutes to get on the board, going scoreless until the 16:02 mark when a runner by senior Jenna Smith broke the drought. Purdue mimicked the Illini's early struggles over the next four minutes, allowing Illinois to get back in the game with a 6-0 run, but a bucket by sophomore Samantha Woods halted the Illini spurt and put the Boilermakers on top, 9-6.
The Boilermakers ran into some offensive woes over the next stretch, failing to hit a field goal for over seven minutes, but their defensive kept them afloat, forcing three turnovers and limiting Illinois to just nine points and a 14-15 lead. Sophomore Alex Guyton broke the field-goal drought just under the eight-minute mark, reclaiming the Purdue lead, and the advantage continued to go back-and-forth on Smith's eighth point of the game and a trifecta by Purdue senior Jodi Howell. Illinois seemed to gain a bit of control inside the six-minute mark on a series of free throws as rookie Kersten Magrum hit three of four and Smith finished an and-one opportunity for a four-point edge.
The Purdue post players carried the weight through the remainder of the session as Guyton, Woods and classmate Chelsea Jones accounted for the Boilermakers' final nine points of the half and tightened the score back up. When the dust settled after the first 20 minutes, the lead changed hands seven times, was tied four others and the two teams combined for 21 turnovers and 17 fouls. However, it was the Fighting Illini who would go the locker rooms with the edge, leading 29-28 at the half. Illinois outrebounded Purdue 19-to-9 in the first half, grabbing seven offensive boards, but the Boilermakers kept pace with their top first-half shooting performance of the conference season, hitting 10-of-21 attempts (47.6%), including two from behind the arc, and forcing 12 Illini turnovers.
The Fighting Illini came out firing in the second half, scoring the first five points to mount a 34-28 lead, while on the other side, the Boilermakers came up empty on their first four possessions, missing three shots and coughing up a pair of turnovers. A timeout by Purdue head coach Sharon Versyp steadied the ship as the Boilermakers forced three quick turnovers and rookie KK Houser chipped in a bucket to end the run. Purdue continued to chip away at the lead as Rayburn cashed in her first bucket since early on, Houser drained a long three to cut it to one, and Jones finally erased the deficit and gave Purdue its first lead , 37-36, since Howell's three at the 6:13 mark of the first half (19-17).
The lead traded hands three times in the next minute, but Illinois capitalized a short series of Boilermaker miscues near the 12-minute mark to take its largest lead of the game, 46-39, on a layup and free throw by freshman Karisma Penn. However, the Boilermakers refused to go away, mounting an 8-2 response to trim the lead to one, 48-47, with 9:13 to play. Purdue senior FahKara Malone took the first chunk out of the lead, hitting a three from the top of the key, but Penn responded at the other end, hauling in her own miss and stuffing it back for two. Jones cashed in a pair of free throws and Malone quickly forced another Illinois turnover which led to a Houser three.
Despite some rocky play, Illinois clung to a narrow lead for the next four minutes as the Boilermakers were unable to convert a field goal attempt and made just three of eight free throws in the stretch. Guyton was once again the slump-breaker for the Old Gold and Black, cashing in a turnaround jumper to knot the count at 52-52 with 3:55 to play, but the Illini woke up as well on the ensuing possession as they came out of a scramble with the ball and freshman Adrienne GodBold scored a layup with a foul to put Illinois back up, 55-52, at the final media timeout.
The game remained tight in the final minutes, but the Fighting Illini played stout defense and converted their offensive opportunities to hold off a late Purdue charge, forcing a shot clock violation and getting a huge bucket from Penn and a pair of free throws from Smith to seal it up. Smith led all scorers with 21 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds, while Penn finished six-of-nine from the floor for 14 points and Magrum joined them in double figures with 11 as Illinois improved to 14-13 (6-11 Big Ten).
Jones posted her sixth game of the season in double figures, finishing with 12 points and matching Rayburn for the Boilermakers' leading scorer mark. Houser chipped in nine points and a trio of steals for the Boilermakers as well who fall to 14-13 overall and 9-7 in Big Ten play. Purdue is now tied for third in the conference with the University of Wisconsin, just a game back from second place Michigan State, who the Boilermakers are set to face Thursday at Mackey Arena at 7 p.m.