Minnesota 74, Purdue women's basketball 61: Late surge propels Golden Gophers
The Boilermakers can't overcome a combined 49 points from Sophie Hart and Grace Grocholski
Thoughts from Mackey Arena:
• This might be the loss that keeps the Boilermakers from reaching the Big Ten tournament. Purdue will likely need to win two of its last three to remain in the hunt, but that won’t guarantee a spot. Plenty of help is needed to stay in contention, assuming it can piece together wins down the stretch.
• The Boilermakers pulled within 56-53 on Sophie Swanson’s jumper with 6:54 to play. However, the Gophers outscored Purdue 18-8 to seal the victory.
• The end of the first half and the start of the second half were the defining moments. The Boilermakers led 34-28, but the Golden Gophers scored eight straight points heading into halftime. That carried over to the start of the third quarter, and a 17-2 run over that stretch allowed Minnesota to take control. Sophie Hart took over inside for the Gophers, scoring 18 points in the first half on 8 of 9 field goals. She finished with 22 points, and Minnesota totaled 42 points in the paint. Grace Grocholski tied her career high with 27 points and provided the perimeter balance with Hart’s inside production. That was the definition of an inside-outside game.
“We just missed a couple of ball coverages, and then we didn't get any shots to fall,” Rashunda Jones said. “I think we have to keep going.”
Said Katie Gearlds: “Give them credit because we couldn't quite make the adjustment on Hart until halftime. She was getting to her spots too easily. In the third quarter, we couldn't quite get it moving. We just got a little stagnant.”
• Hart was a load inside for Lana McCarthy and Kendall Puryear. The 6-foot-5 senior established position down low early in the possession, allowing her to dominate. The freshmen battled, but Hart’s experience was too much to overcome. It’s another valuable lesson, especially for Puryear, who has played against some of the nation’s top post players during the Big Ten season.
“She has a lot more experience than KP,” Jones said. “KP is a freshman, and I think if you give KP another year or two, she's really banging with her. I just credit that to a lot of experience because I think if KP had the experience, it would have been a totally different ball game.”
The consistency Puryear is playing with is impressive. Wednesday was her 26th game, more than she played last year in high school. In mid-February, freshmen in college start hitting a wall, but Puryear continues to show progress this late in the season.
“Just working,” Puryear said. “Every day after practice, several people on our team are shooting and getting up extra shots and practicing moves I know.”
Puryear reached double figures for the ninth time in the last 11 games after scoring 16 points on 8 of 11 shooting. The improvement is directly tied to her steady work ethic of watching film, and getting extra work in the gym. Puryear worked with assistant Mark Stephens before Tuesday’s practice at Mackey Arena.
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“She just wants to be great,” Gearlds said. “And the five defensive rebounds for her is actually … that's what we’ve challenged her to go out and be a better defensive rebounder. I think we all feel, from coaches to players, when teams decide to play her one-on-one, we're going to get a quality shot at the rim.”
• This was a two-player show for the Gophers. Hart and Grocholski combined for 49 points and 11 rebounds, made 19 of 26 field goals, converted 8 of 12 from the line, and totaled seven assists. The rest of the team hit 8 of 23 field goals, including 2 of 11 from 3-point range, grabbed 19 rebounds, and scored 25 points.
• There was a weird sequence late in the game. Swanson, who scored 18 points, and Grocholski battled for a loose ball, but Grocholski was overly aggressive. Minnesota’s Tori McKinney ran toward the pair, prompting Swanson to shove her. Both players were whistled for intentional fouls, but Minnesota’s Jordan Brooks was ejected for leaving the bench. Brooks passed her head coach on the sideline, resulting in the ejection. Brooks didn’t play in the game. It led to McKenna Layden shooting her first two free throws of the season. She made both. The review lasted seven minutes as the officials looked at all the camera angles.
• Layden and Ella Collier were two of three players listed as questionable before Wednesday’s game. Both suffered injuries during Tuesday’s practice. Layden sustained an ankle injury and underwent an MRI, which came back clean. Collier has been dealing with a sore back most of the season. Gearlds was grateful the pair wanted to play despite dealing with injuries.
“After what they went through, just pure toughness,” Gearlds said. “Both practiced, and they're in different groups. I look down there, and Kenna’s eyes are welled with tears. She said, ‘Coach, I’m playing. It’s late in the season, and everybody's hurt, and I'm gonna play through it.’
“They flip ends, and I look down there, and Ella is full ass on the ground. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a kid walk as gingerly as she had to because of her back. I think Ella slept with treatment, and both were here early in the morning. Just toughness, right? Trying to find a way to be on the court to help your team win.”
Amiyah Reynolds was listed as questionable and was in the uniform but didn’t play. Reynolds was listed as out in the previous four games.
VIDEOS: Purdue Athletic Communications
What a game— They battled hard— you can not expect anymore—right to the end— and we have players that competed hard— their making strides . The game was decided by a couple of their players— they dominated the game— in scoring and rebounding—- almost 50 points between 2 players— that’s hard to over come and that is why they have won half of their BIG TEN games—so hats off to you girls— I knew that it was going to be a tough game but I thought that we had a shot and we proved that— really could have gone the other way if a couple shots would have fallen and we get one more put-back— but I guess we can’t dwell on this game too much— there is another tough one ahead— I say that even tho we did not come out a winner— this was a good game— thank you for competing hard— you never gave up and the game was not iced until the end— GO BOILERS !!!