March 10, 2003
By DAN GELSTON
Associated Press Writer
INDIANAPOLIS - Purdue has earned yet another banner to hang from the Mackey Arena rafters. The Boilermakers aren't interested in stopping at one.
Mary Jo Noon and Shereka Wright each scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as No. 10 Purdue beat No. 22 Ohio State 67-65 Monday night to win the Big Ten tournament.
It was the seventh straight season the Boilermakers have been the conference's regular season or tournament champions.
"It's just pride," coach Kristy Curry said. "There was never a look in their eye like we couldn't do this, and I think that comes from the classes that were here before them. They play to win instead of playing not to lose."
The third-seeded Boilermakers (26-5) won the tournament for the fourth time - but first since 2000 - and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the 10th straight season. Purdue will host first- and second-round games at Mackey Arena.
"I wanted to come out and prove to everybody that we are the best team in the Big Ten," Noon said.
Caity Matter led fourth-seeded Ohio State (22-8) with 21 points, and Kim Wilburn had 16. The Buckeyes will probably get an at-large berth under first-year coach Jim Foster.
The Buckeyes had a chance to tie or win on their last possession, but Wilburn took a 3-pointer and couldn't get off a good shot. She put up an airball and the ball went out of bounds with three-tenths of a second left.
"I think I made a mental mistake," Wilburn said. "We were down by two and in a split second I just thought I'd shoot it. Basically, it was my fault."
Purdue then ran out the clock.
 | "It's just pride. There was never a look in their eye like we couldn't do this, and I think that comes from the classes that were here before them. They play to win instead of playing not to lose." Purdue head coach Kristy Curry |
The Buckeyes pulled to 66-65 when Wilburn hit a 3 with 40.7 seconds remaining.
Wright was fouled with 18.1 seconds left. She made the first one, missed the second and Wilburn grabbed the rebound before misfiring.
Foster said the Buckeyes would learn from the experience as they head toward their first tournament appearance since the 1998-99 season.
"I think youth is very resilient," he said. "They're going to find out next Sunday that they will get in the NCAA tournament and I think that's exciting for them. But our objective was to win."
 Purdue's Mary Jo Noon celebrates the win over Ohio State.  | |
Erika Valek scored 13 points and Hicks added 11 for Purdue.
The Boilermakers, who had won two straight regular-season championships, jumped out to an early 11-point lead after five straight points by Valek.
But Matter made 3-pointers on Ohio State's last two possessions, helping the Buckeyes to a 33-32 lead at halftime.
The teams exchanged the lead for most of the second half, and Purdue could never break away because of poor foul shooting. The Boilermakers went 10-for-22 from the line. When they trailed by three midway through the second half, they had missed seven of 12 free throws.
That was surprising, because Purdue shot 77 percent during the regular season.
"It was pretty frustrating because that's something we've done pretty well all year," Curry said. "We were able to get there in the second half because we came out more aggressive. I was surprised because we usually shoot them better than that, but at least we got there."
Ohio State capitalized, taking a 52-47 lead following a 3-pointer by Matter. But the Buckeyes couldn't do much offensively after that.
Matter missed a jumper that hit the side of the backboard, and Wright grabbed the rebound and went end-to-end for what proved to be the winning layup.
"I was trying to get our team in good position to win the game, to be the aggressor and to try and get a call and win the game," Wright said.
Purdue won the tournament championship in 1999 and 2000, and lost the 1996 and 2001 title games.
Penn State's Tanisha Wright, Matter, Wilburn, Valek and Shereka Wright were named to the all-tournament team. Shereka Wright was the most outstanding player.
The attendance of 30,600 for four days was the second-highest for the tournament.