Dec 3, 2003
By TOM COYNE
AP Sports Writer
VALPARAISO, Ind. - Seventh-ranked Purdue pulled down 43 rebounds and outrebounded Valparaiso by nine, both season bests for the Boilermakers.
Coach Kristy Curry still wasn't satisfied following a 68-57 victory Wednesday night.
"The bottom line is we've got to be a good rebounding team to win, on the road or at home, regardless of where we are playing," she said. "To win a Big Ten title and accomplish our goals, we have to get better. We have to have more of a presence about it."
The Boilermakers fell behind 9-3 early and Curry let her players know during a timeout she wasn't happy with their effort on the backboards, telling them that they were going to have to run the stairs at Mackey Arena because of their lack of intensity.
"There is five Mackeys for every offensive board we give up," she said. "I have kids that have 20, 25 Mackeys before I go to Houston (on Sunday). We may lose in Houston because we are so sore."
Shereka Wright led the Boilermakers (5-1) with 18 points and six rebounds and Katie Gearlds added 16 points. Suzie Hammel led Valparaiso (2-4) with 15 points, Betsy Rietema had 13 and Meredith Baugher 10. Tamara Braun had four of her nine rebounds on the offensive end as Valparaiso had 15 offensive rebounds and 34 overall.
The Boilermakers, who entered the game shooting 54.4 percent for the season, won easily despite shooting a season-low 43.4 percent.
Purdue, which led 32-28 at halftime, scored the first 10 points of the second half to take control. Erika Valek scored two baskets and Wright added another as Valparaiso missed its first five shots of the second half.
"The difference was our energy and effort to start the second half was much better than our first four minutes of the first half," Curry said.
The 14-point lead forced Valparaiso to abandon the slowdown offense it used to keep the game close in the first half. Freeman said the goal was to keep the Boilermakers from scoring on fast breaks or off turnovers.
"We were trying to get the best shot we could get and not cause transition buckets," he said.
The Boilermakers extended the lead to 58-42 on a layup by Sharika Webb with 6:16 left. The Crusaders cut the lead to 62-54 when Baugher scored on a layup with 1:49 left but could get no closer.
Wright said the Boilermakers weren't nervous when the Crusaders cut the lead to single digits.
"We were relaxing at the end because we had the lead and we are not supposed to do that," Wright said. "We need to put teams away."