Feb 2, 2003
By DAN GELSTON
Associated Press Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Erika Valek never lost confidence when her shot wasn't falling early. She kept shooting, and it paid off.
Valek made the go-ahead 3-pointer with just over four minutes left and Shereka Wright scored 21 points to lead No. 10 Purdue past No. 23 Ohio State 67-62 Sunday.
"It was just one of those days where they don't want to go in," said Valek, who scored 16 points on 5-for-15 shooting. "But I stayed in there and felt like I didn't lose my composure. If I wouldn't have stayed, I wouldn't have been able to hit the 3."
The Boilermakers (18-3, 7-2 Big Ten) moved into sole possession of second place in the Big Ten and improved to 10-0 at home. Penn State (8-1) remained in first by defeating Indiana 69-55.
The Buckeyes (15-5, 6-3) led 57-55 before a basket by Wright tied it, and Valek's 3-pointer put Purdue ahead with 4:02 left.
Purdue coach Kristy Curry said Valek had been shooting too quickly off the dribble. She wanted Valek, who had scored 72 points the last three games, to be more patient and not try as hard to make big plays.
Still, when Valek is open, Curry wants her to shoot.
"She understands that she has all of our support and we have every bit of confidence in her to take the shot," said Curry. "It was obviously a big shot."
It didn't quite put away the Buckeyes. Ohio State pulled within 64-62 with 46 seconds left when DiDi Reynolds made a 3-pointer.
On Purdue's next possession, Wright took a bounce pass from Beth Jones underneath the basket, made a layup and was fouled. Wright hit the free throw - she was 11-for-11 from the line - to put it away.
"That was a big shot," Wright said. "Beth got it to me in position and we got the one-and-one. That was a big boost for us."
It was also part of Purdue's plan to work the ball inside, penetrate and get to the line. It worked to near perfection, as the Boilermakers made 19 of 20 free throws. The Buckeyes were only 6-for-14 and missed their last six attempts.
"It was almost like we were mentally soft," Ohio State coach Jim Foster said.
Curry was pleased Purdue achieved its goal of making more free throws than the other team shoots.
"It's something we try to take a lot of pride in," Curry said. "We have a lot of confidence in coming out and being the aggressor. If we don't score, we want to get fouled by attacking."
Caity Matter, the top 3-point shooter in the conference, shot 6-for-9 from beyond the arc and scored 22 points to lead Ohio State. But she missed two 3-pointers on the Buckeyes' final possession.
Courtney Coleman added 15 points and Kim Wilburn had 11 assists for Ohio State.
"It was very obvious that we were a young basketball team the last three or four minutes and they've a veteran team," Foster said.
The Buckeyes made 14 of their first 26 field-goal attempts and built a 34-29 lead. Purdue scored the final four points of the half, including a layup at the buzzer by Wright, to make it 34-33.
The lead changed throughout the second half. Matter's sixth 3-pointer tied the game at 55 with 6:10 remaining. Ashley Allen's jumper made it 57-55 for Ohio State's last lead of the game.
The Buckeyes haven't won in Mackey Arena since 1994.
"Learning to get together and work together is a component that we are still striving to put together," Foster said.