Purdue Defends Big Ten Tournament Title On Buzzer-Beater

By Michael O'Neill, SPM IN Writer
Posted Sunday, March 9, 2008

Freeman hit a jumper in the lane as the buzzer sounded, propelling the Purdue Boilermakers to a 58-56 victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini, clinching their seventh Big Ten Tournament title in team history. Freeman actually collected an offensive rebound from her own miss, letting the shot go with at best two-tenths of a second remaining to seal the victory.

Purdue used a late five-minute, 13-2 run to establish a 56-50 lead with just over four minutes to go. Though it looked like the Illini, whose five starters were on their fourth consecutive night of playing nearly forty minutes of basketball, were on their last legs, sophomore forward Jenna Smith and senior guard Rebecca Harris hit consecutive threes to tie the game at 56-56 with 2:55 remaining. Neither team was able to score until the deciding final fraction of a second.

Freeman led a balanced Boilermaker scoring attack, with senior forward Kalika France adding 11. Senior center Danielle Campbell, who led all Boilermakers with nine rebounds and freshman forward Keshia Mosley contributed ten points as well.

Sophomore guard FahKara Malone put in nine points to go with seven assists, which led all players, and earned Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors despite just shooting 2-13 from the floor in the final game. Like Freeman, Campbell was on the floor for the entire forty minutes of the final, as were Malone and France.

Though Malone was deserving, it was difficult for the media to pick just one representative from a well-rounded Purdue squad. Boilermaker coach Sharon Versyp noted, “The team got the accolades today; it’s all about the teamwork. We’re always a team and always play with a team concept.”

The Illini provided a great challenge to the Boilermakers, nearly becoming one of the few teams to ever win four games in four days to become a tournament champion. Smith led all players with 19 points and 12 rebounds, as well as decisively blocking a lay-up attempt by Malone with just 3.1 – a block that almost forced overtime. Sophomore forward Lacey Simpson completed a great tournament performance with 15 points and 7 rebounds in the final as well.

Joining Malone on the Big Ten Tournament Team were Mosley, France, and Campbell from Purdue, as well as Harris and Smith from Illinois.

Purdue finishes the season with an 18-14 record, and will automatically advance to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, which will begin on March 22. Illinois, who finished the season with a 19-14 (while winning four of their final five games) will have to wait to see if they will be joining Purdue in the Big Dance. Bids for the 2008 NCAA Women’s Tournament will be announced on Selection Monday, March 17.