March 1, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State's Lauren Aitch hit an elbow jump shot with one second remaining to give the Spartans a 57-55 victory and a tie with Purdue for second place in the Big Ten.
The Boilermakers shot 52.6 percent against Michigan State, the fourth ranked team in the country in field goal percentage defense, but Purdue's 21 turnovers were the story of the game. The Boilermakers could not sustain an offensive flow due to untimely turnovers.
Purdue had a six-point lead with 8:33 to play, but Kalisha Keane scored five points in a 7-0 Spartan run to give Michigan State a one-point lead at 6:53. The Boilermakers would regain the lead, 46-45 on the next possession on a putback jumpshot by freshman Alex Guyton and Lakisha Freeman stretched the margin to three on a steal and layup.
The Spartans used a 10-3 run to extend the lead to four points with 1:35 to play. Purdue freshman Brittany Rayburn hit four consecutive free throws to knot the game at 55-55 with 23 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, with the Purdue defense concentrating on 6-foot-9 Allyssa DeHaan, Aitch got free to hit the game winner from the elbow.
Freeman had a stellar game in the losing effort, tying her season high with 20 points on 7 of 9 shooting from the field and a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line. She also contributed one assist and three steals in 37 minutes. Rayburn finished with 14 points that included 8 of 8 free throws and Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton scored 10, had eight rebounds and five steals, but turned the ball over six times. With the eight rebounds, Wisdom-Hylton became the first Boilermaker to reach the 900 rebound mark and has 903 career boards.
DeHaan was the only Spartan to reach double-figure scoring with 16 points and six rebounds, while Aitch and Keane contributed nine points apiece.
The Boilermakers finish the regular season tied with Michigan State but the Spartans have the edge in the tiebreaker and will be the No. 2 seed, while Purdue has the No. 3 seed and will play at approximately 2 p.m. on Friday, March 6 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.