Nov 29, 2002
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue Boilermakers did little wrong Friday night.
They went inside to Mary Jo Noon early. Then they went outside to Erika Valek, and when those two weren't busy tearing apart the Texas Christian defense, Shereka Wright was.
Noon scored 23 points and had nine rebounds, Valek added 19 points and tournament MVP Wright finished with 18 points as the sixth-ranked Boilermakers trounced Texas Christian 93-74 to win the Travelers Classic.
"It's amazing we're putting up those kinds of numbers," Purdue coach Kristy Curry said, shaking her head.
Those numbers on back-to-back games were nothing short of dazzling. The Boilermakers (4-0) scored 196 points, shot 57.7 percent from the field, connected on 12 of 25 3-pointers and outrebounded their opponents 87-52 in the two-day tournament.
And although Friday night's game was more competitive than Thursday's 103-25 rout, it also was more impressive because Purdue was playing a team that had reached the second round of last year's NCAA tournament.
Still, Texas Christian (2-2) never had a chance.
Noon dominated the game early, forcing the Horned Frogs to concentrate on the inside. Purdue responded with Valek hitting from outside. Purdue wound up hitting 5-of-8 3-pointers in the first half, and with both phases in sync, Wright began splitting the defense.
The Horned Frogs were out of options.
"Our intention was to cause Purdue some confusion," coach Jeff Mittie said. "I think what we did was cause ourselves some confusion."
The Boilermakers took advantage with their three-pronged attack, by connecting on 59.3 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from 3-point range in the first half. Even 14 first-half turnovers failed to slow the Boilermakers.
But that was the gameplan.
"If we didn't come out and take it to them at the beginning, they were going to take it to us," Valek said. "We had to set the tone."
No problem.
Noon led the Boilermakers to a 15-2 lead in the game's first 3:34. Valek and Beth Jones then hit back-to-back 3-pointers and just eight minutes into the game, Texas Christian was already staring at a 26-9 deficit.
By the time the Horned Frogs inserted their top player, Sandora Irvin, who served a one-game suspension for violating team rules Thursday night, it didn't matter. They were already in too deep a hole and even Irvin's 14 points and eight rebounds were of little help.
Texas Christian did force five straight turnovers and went on a 9-0 run to close within 26-18 with 9:08 left in the half. They got as close as 30-24, but Purdue closed the half with six straight points to build a 47-33 edge and take control.
"It was mostly a lack of communication," said TCU's Candace Baldwin, who had 18 points. "We were kind of feeling our way through it defensively because we wanted to play our best defense."
Little changed at halftime, though.
Texas Christian missed its first five shots and Purdue opened with on 12-1 run that made it 59-34. Purdue continued to pull away, and led by as many as 28 points in the second half before falling seven points short of its first back-to-back 100-point games since December 1990.
"There were two key components to this," Curry said. "We wanted to work the basketball and set good screens. When we make our shots, it makes it a lot better."