Dec 13, 2003
Box Score?|? Photo Gallery | AP Photos
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - With a flick of the wrist, Beth Jones undid a near upset.
Jones made a 3-pointer from the corner with 1.8 seconds left, lifting No. 8 Purdue to a 58-57 victory over UCLA on Saturday.
"Erika and I had been working on passes this week," Jones said. "In talking to Erika, I told her, 'I think that's the most perfect pass I've ever seen."'
Lisa Willis made two free throws to give UCLA a 57-55 lead with 8.6 seconds left, but Erika Valek drove the length of the court and found Jones for the winning shot.
"I had no idea where I was on the floor," Jones said. "I knew I was somewhere around the 3. I just worried about getting a shot off in time."
The shot helped Jones match a season-high 12 points. Shereka Wright added 17 on 7-for-12 shooting as Purdue (7-1) overcame 32 percent shooting and extended its winning streak to six games.
"I thought to myself, 'We're going to beat them,"' UCLA coach Kathy Olivier said. "All we have to do is play defense for nine seconds. But we only played for 7.2 seconds, which wasn't long enough."
Emily Heikes finished with 11 rebounds for the Boilermakers, who held a 48-46 edge on the glass.
Nikki Blue scored 20 points for UCLA (2-3), and Willis added career highs in points (20), rebounds (nine) and assists (four).
"Sometimes when you're playing against a top-10 program, you go in hesitant," Olivier said. "But in the second half, it finally made sense to them that they can play with them."
Both teams' struggled early. The Bruins went the first five minutes without a point, while the Boilermakers were held to just 1-of-12 shooting from 3-point range for most of the game.
Wright tried pulling Purdue out of its funk, fading away from one defender and into another for two of her first-half seven points.
Wright was benched briefly after coming up lame on the play, but later returned in the half with a chance to extend Purdue's lead after UCLA pulled within seven points.
"They never gave up. They played to the end," Wright said. "Just with them being so young, I give them great credit because they play like a veteran team. For them to keep fighting back like that just shows they're going to be a very good team down the line."
Purdue, which held a 27-22 lead at the break, matched its lowest first-half scoring total of the season. The Boilermakers also scored 27 points in the opening half of their game against Duke on Nov. 23 - their lone loss of the season.
"After the loss to Duke, it became our goal to finish the season undefeated," Jones said. "This is just another step."