Feb. 24, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue (19-10, 9-7 Big Ten) completed the regular season with a 51-49 win at Penn State on Thursday.
The Boilermakers never trailed in the game, getting off to a 2-0 start on a jumper by Courtney Moses and led by as many as 20 points in the first half. Penn State's pressure defense got them within one point twice in the second period but Purdue never relinqued control.
No sooner had the Boilermakers pushed their first half lead to 20 points at 33-13, that the Lady Lions went on an 8-0 run fueled by three Purdue turnovers to cut the lead to 33-21 at the half.
The Boilermakers regrouped at the break and scored the first four points of the second period. The Lady Lions answered with a 15-0 run and trailed by only one at 37-36. Purdue would not fold as Antionette Howard hit a three-pointer that started a 9-0 Boilermaker run that pushed the lead back to 10 at 46-36.
It was a back-and-forth affair until Penn State put together a 6-0 run to again trim Purdue's lead to one at 50-49 with 3:48 to play. The Boilermakers did not score a field goal but came up with six-straight stops to maintain the lead before Brittany Rayburn hit one of three free throws for the final point of the game.
Rayburn led Purdue with 14 points but Drey Mingo was a key to the victory as she scored 12 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, including clutch boards on the offensive and defensive end to seal the win.
Mia Nickson led Penn State with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Maggie Lucas contributed 10 points, more than six below her average. The Boilermakers held the nation's top three-point shooting team to 1 of 12 from beyond the arc and 31.7 percent overall.
Purdue has a bye on Sunday and awaits the final conference standings to determine its seed in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis on March 3 to 6 at Conseco Fieldhouse.