WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.-In the first half of Sunday’s game, the Wildcats shot 27 percent, committed 13 turnovers and scored 15 points. Still, after junior center Amy Jaeschke nailed a short jump shot with 7:47 left in the game, Northwestern found itself within one point of Purdue. Jaeschke’s shot capped off a 20-8 rally to open the second half.
But in a game of runs, the Boilermakers had the last laugh. Purdue closed the game with a 17-7 rally, coming away with a 53-42 victory and denying NU what would have been its first victory at Mackey Arena since 1993.
“We needed to focus on making our runs a lot longer than theirs,” sophomore forward Brittany Orban said. “We were able to do that the first time we played them, but tonight we came up short.”
After five minutes of neck-and-neck basketball to start the game, Purdue outscored NU 18-2, beating the Cats badly in the battle under the basket. Jaeschke, Dannielle Diamant and Kendall Hackney combined for 11 turnovers and two points.
“It’s a testament to our posts, just being up in their faces,” Purdue point guard FahKara Malone said. “Oddly enough, they kept the ball at their waist, which allowed us to steal the ball sometimes.”
Jaeschke burned Purdue when the Cats faced the Boilermakers in December, recording 16 points and seven rebounds. On Sunday, Purdue was prepared to prevent NU’s leading scorer.
“We just wanted to pressure her straight-up and make her make a great shot instead of letting her get deep and get easier shots,” Purdue center Chelsea Jones said. “I was just trying to keep her from scoring, and it worked.”
The Cats came out of the locker room with renewed energy, slowly erasing a 13-point halftime deficit. A trio of Jodi Howell 3s kept Purdue in the game, and NU couldn’t regain its rhythm after she sank the last of her treys.
“The second half was a great basketball game,” Joe McKeown said. “The first half maybe people should have got a refund.”
With one minute left, the Cats had cut the Boilermakers’ lead to seven. Purdue had possession, and Jones put the ball up with the shot clock winding down. Jaeschke blocked the shot, but as she came down with the ball she stepped out of bounds. McKeown insisted NU should take possession because the shot clock expired. But the referees ruled Jaeschke had possession as she landed, and Purdue was given the ball back with a new shot clock.
“I don’t know,” McKeown said of the call. “Maybe (Jaeschke) was out of bounds, but if she was out of bounds, then why wouldn’t that be a shot clock violation?
“I couldn’t see from where I was, my bench was at the other baseline. It was a big play, and the explanation I got was that she blocked the shot.”
After the controversial call, the Boilermakers held the Cats scoreless the rest of the way.Purdue learned its lesson from the first time the teams faced, when the Boilermakers blew a double-digit lead in the second half.
“We played very different defensively than we played the first time,” Purdue coach Sharon Versyp said. “We were pressuring the ball no matter where they were on the floor, trying to front a little bit and double-team. We kept doing a lot of different things so they couldn’t adjust well.”
For McKeown, the difference was clear.
“They played extremely well this afternoon,” McKeown said. “They forced us out of our offense a little bit. We did a great job in the second half of making a run. We had chances to take the lead, but they made a couple plays.”[email protected]
