Women's Basketball Opens NCAA Tournament With 66-51 Win Over Valparaiso

March 22, 2003

Box Score | Photo Gallery

Get Your Boilermaker Gear Here

By STEVE HERMAN
AP Sports Writer

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - No, Purdue didn't play with six defenders. It just seemed that way.

Erika Valek scored 23 points, and the Boilermakers forced eight of Valparaiso's season-high 23 turnovers during a 24-2 first-half run for a 66-51 victory Saturday in the East Regional.

"The game was kind of up and down at the beginning," Valek said. "We were kind of down a bit and we had to find some kind of spark and energy. It's very fundamental. Defense wins games, and we had to create our offense off our defense."

Purdue scored 32 points off Valpo turnovers.

Erika Valek goes up for two of her game-high 23 points.


"We got some easy layups and then our bench and everyone got into it," Valek said. "Once we took control of the tempo, we took control of the game."

Second-seeded Purdue (27-5) will play Virginia Tech (22-9), the No. 7 seed, in the second round on Monday. The Hokies advanced with a 61-59 victory over Georgia Tech.

Valparaiso (18-13), which reached the NCAA tournament for the first time as Mid-Continent Conference champion, couldn't sustain its strong start and fell apart midway through the first half under Purdue's constant pressure.

"They did a good job with that," said Katie Boone, who had eight turnovers herself. "They had two people coming at us every time."

Two straight baskets by Jamie Gutowski gave the Crusaders their biggest lead at 18-9. But they also were the last points for Valpo until a double-team on Boone left Jeanette Gray alone under the basket for a layup more than four minutes later.




"We were kind of down a bit and we had to find some kind of spark and energy. It's very fundamental. Defense wins games, and we had to create our offense off our defense."

In the six possessions in between, Valpo had four straight turnovers and two missed shots. Then, after Gray's basket, the Crusaders missed eight more shots and had four more miscues before the next basket by Boone with less than two minutes to go.

"We got off to a good start, but our big Achilles' heel was our handling of the ball," Valpo coach Keith Freeman said. "Their trap hurt us. We had a hard time getting spacing when they trapped us.

"Purdue really got out and pressured us and did the things to cause that."

In the meantime, Valek and Mary Jo Noon had six points each and Shereka Wright added five as the Boilermakers took control. A basket by Noon put Purdue ahead for good at 22-20. The Boilermakers took a 35-22 lead at halftime and built it to 25 points midway through the second half.

Wright added 15 points for Purdue. Valparaiso was led by Jenna Stangler with 12 points. Gray added 11.