Purdue University Women's Basketball :: Official Athletic Site

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Today was a great day because we had the whole day off after a big upset of No.8/4 Texas on our home court. It was our first win this season over a ranked opponent and it was especially satisfying because we did it in part for our point guard FahKara Malone who is out 4 to 6 weeks with a hand injury. Our team knew we dropped the ball with our loss to Valparaiso on Dec. 13. We were favored to win, but did not come to play that night and ended up losing to very talented yet unranked team. With that loss and our losses to No. 5 Stanford (in overtime), No. 8 Maryland and No. 11 Notre Dame, we dropped out of the rankings, and have yet to get back in the top 25.

Even though dropping out of the rankings was upsetting, it seemed to have released some pressure from our team. After the Valparaiso loss, we went on a three game winning streak; beating Iona, Illinois, and Iowa. Each of those games was a huge win for us. The win at home over Iona gave our team a huge boost in confidence entering the Big Ten conference season. Our first two conference games were on the road over the holiday break. It was a little hard to focus with all of the holiday distractions. Everyone was getting excited about being able to go home to spend a few days with their families. I personally had a great holiday and Santa paid me a nice visit this Christmas. Despite the distractions our team played great against the Illini. Everybody must have had a wonderful time at home because we played even better against Iowa when we returned from the break. We knew both teams were out to get us since we beat both of them in the Big Ten tourney last season. Against Iowa in the tournament, we came back from a 17-point deficit in the semifinal game to beat them. Then we went on to win the championship by beating Illinois on a last second shot at the buzzer, taking away their chance to be in the NCAA Tournament.

This season, with three wins in a row, including two road conference games we felt as though we were turning the corner and starting fresh. Next on our list was Michigan State. They were coming off of a loss at home to Indiana, so we knew they were coming to our place hungry for a win, yet our team did not come ready to play. We lost to Michigan State in overtime Jan. 1, which was not the way we wanted to start off the New Year. Even worse our starting point guard, Malone, severely dislocated a finger on her right hand about halfway through the overtime period. It was a pretty gruesome injury. Almost all of our losses have come from teams who we had down near the end of the game, but were somehow able to came back to beat us. Our team has to really focus, especially now without our starting point guard, on how to get a lead and keep that lead.

Next on our calendar was Texas, who was ranked No. 8 in the AP poll and No 4 by the coaches. We played them at home and desperately needed to recover from our last home game disaster. We knew Texas would be just as hungry for a win since they had dropped a game against San Diego State after Christmas. I believe Texas might have underestimated our team, and we came ready to play. We were like a different basketball team. We came out aggressive, energetic, and determined to win this game. We need to continue play with this newly developed attitude. We are rejuvenated and eager to conquer the Big Ten. After our non-conference game against Texas, we get back into the Big Ten and play Iowa again, who will be out for revenge on our home court. Then we go to Northwestern to play our last game before the spring semester starts. Since we don't have any academic obligations it is important for us to be mentally and physically focused for these games.

Until next time, Happy New Year and Boiler Up!