March 2, 2008
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Boilermakers' road woes continued, losing 63-55 at Illinois in the final game of the regular season.
Purdue (15-14, 11-7) trailed by just one point at halftime, 22-21, and regained the lead with a basket by Danielle Campbell at the start of the second half. It would be the Boilermakers' only lead of the period as the Fighting Illini went on a 6-0 run and stretched their lead to five. Illinois led by as many as 14 with 1:48 to play.
FahKara Malone led the Boilermakers in scoring, contributing 17 points, five rebounds and a season-high seven steals. Danielle Campbell was second in scoring for Purdue with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Kalika France was one rebound short of her first double-double as a Boilermaker, with 10 points and nine rebounds. France also contributed four steals as the Boilermakers forced the Illini into 22 turnovers, seven above their season average.
Illinois was led in scoring by sophomore Jenna Smith who recorded her 14th double-double of the season with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Stephanie Chelleen scored a career-high 14 points and hit a game-high 4 of 5 from the three-point line.
Purdue's Brittany Dildine tied her career high with six points and pulled down a career-high four rebounds in nine minutes in the loss.
For the fourth consecutive season, Ohio State (22-7, 13-5) earned the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament after finishing tied with Iowa (20-9, 13-5) for first in the final conference standings. The Buckeyes earned the top spot by virtue of a 2-0 record against the Hawkeyes.
Purdue earned the No. 3 seed and maintains its streak of never having played on the first day in the Big Ten Tournament. The Boilermakers finished the regular season standings tied with Minnesota (20-10, 11-7) in Big Ten play, but earned the No. 3 spot by virtue of a tiebreaker. The Boilermakers and Golden Gophers went 1-1 in head-to-head competition, but Purdue boasted the better record against the top two conference teams. Purdue has earned a seeding within the top three in all but two Big Ten Tournaments.
The Boilermakers will play the winner of the No. 6 Indiana and No. 11 Northwestern matchup in the second game of the day Friday, March 7. Tipoff is set to begin 25 minutes after the conclusion of the 11:30 a.m. contest between No. 2 Iowa and the winner of No. 7 Michigan and No. 10 Penn State matchup. Both games will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.