Feb. 18, 2005
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Purdue women's basketball head coach Kristy Curry won her 150th career game in fine fashion, as she directed her Boilermakers to a 63-43 win at Michigan on Feb. 17. The victory improved Purdue to 14-10 overall and 7-6 in the Big Ten. The loss dropped the Wolverines to 5-19 and 1-12.
Curry's first shot at win No. 150 came Sunday, at Minnesota. The Boilermakers squandered that opportunity with a loss to the 12th-ranked Golden Gophers; they did not let their second chance pass them by.
Though Michigan scored the game's first basket, Purdue responded with a 10-0 run to build a lead it would never relinquish. In a bit of foreshadowing, the Boilermakers' first field goal came from sophomore Katie Gearlds on a three-pointer from the right baseline. The 6-foot-1 guard would go on to connect on four more triples in 36 minutes of action, a performance that ranks tied for eighth on the Purdue single-game list for three-pointers made.
After opening up their early eight-point lead, the Boilermakers allowed the Wolverines to hang around. Michigan trimmed the deficit to two twice, the second time at 16-14 on a basket by Ta'Shia Walker with 6:58 remaining in the half.
But Purdue finished strong, outscoring the Maize and Blue 8-2 down the stretch to take a 24-16 advantage into halftime. Though the Boilermakers were outrebounded 20-12 in the first 20 minutes, they did limit Michigan to an opponent season low for first-half points. Walker's basket that cut the lead to two was Michigan's last field goal of the first half. The Wolverines did not score another basket until three minutes into the second half.
With Purdue leading 28-19 at the 17-minute mark, Gearlds stole the show. Already having scored 10 points, Gearlds poured in the Boilermakers' next 11 points. Nine of those 11 came on three-pointers.
By the time Gearlds was done with her shooting clinic, Purdue owned a 39-24 lead with 11:10 to play.
The Purdue lead grew to 21 before Michigan put together a 14-4 run to draw within 11 with 4:35 remaining. But the Boilermakers outscored the Wolverines 14-5 the rest of the way to leave Ann Arbor with a 20-point win, their largest in Crisler Arena since Feb. 2, 1996 (82-58; +24).
The victory was Purdue's fifth on the road this season, and its first away from Mackey Arena since beating Northwestern 68-65 on Jan. 30.
Gearlds finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field. She connected on 5 of 7 three-pointers. Also scoring in double figures was sophomore Erin Lawless, who pitched in 15 points. Senior Emily Heikes tied Lawless for team-high rebound honors with six apiece. Freshman Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton led the Boilermakers with five assists and three steals.
Walker scored a team-high 18 points for Michigan. Tabitha Pool, the Wolverines' leading scorer coming into the game, was held to 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting.
Curry, now in her sixth year at Purdue, owns a career record of 150-41.
Purdue will return to action Sunday, when it plays at Indiana. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m., in Assembly Hall.
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