2008 Woodie Awards
Women stumble at Purdue
Diane Hendrickson - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: Sports
Looking for its ninth-straight victory, Iowa found itself in unfamiliar territory Thursday in West Lafayette: trailing. As the Hawkeyes have done to so many opponents over the course of their impressive winning streak, Purdue took advantage of poor Iowa shooting to keep the lead at the verge of double digits for most of the game en route to a 59-46 win.
The Hawkeyes haven't won in Mackey Arena since 1998. Iowa - the only Big Ten team with a winning record on the road this season - falls back into a tie with the Boilermakers for first in the conference.
Iowa drew first blood with a Kristi Smith jumper 20 seconds into the game, but that would be all for the squad's leading scorer, who was in foul trouble in the first half. Purdue drained 3's on three of its first four shots to lead by four with 15:31 left.
"I really felt like we lost that game in the first five minutes," Iowa associate head coach Jan Jensen said. "[The Boilermakers'] energy level was so intense, and they were just quicker to the ball, they were quicker to deny on defense. And I think our players didn't match that."
Head coach Lisa Bluder agreed.
"When they hit the quick 3's right off the bat, I think, that just intensified their momentum, and it really deflated ours," she said.
Iowa mustered only six points over the next eight minutes, and the Boilermakers built up a nine-point advantage. Megan Skouby scored nine straight - including her first career 3 - to cut the deficit to five, but no one else could find the bottom of the bucket.
Iowa trailed by nine at the half on 39 percent shooting, and the Hawks were out-rebounded by nine.
"We were kind of playing catch-up, and we had a few nice minutes in the first half, but not a whole in a row and that was the problem," Jensen said.
In the second half, the Hawkeyes pulled within four, 42-38, with 12 minutes left on a Jeneé Graham free throw, but they followed that with three points in the next six minutes. The Boilermakers were in their own scoreless streak - from 13:36 to 10:17 - but pushed the lead back to eight.
The Hawkeyes haven't won in Mackey Arena since 1998. Iowa - the only Big Ten team with a winning record on the road this season - falls back into a tie with the Boilermakers for first in the conference.
Iowa drew first blood with a Kristi Smith jumper 20 seconds into the game, but that would be all for the squad's leading scorer, who was in foul trouble in the first half. Purdue drained 3's on three of its first four shots to lead by four with 15:31 left.
"I really felt like we lost that game in the first five minutes," Iowa associate head coach Jan Jensen said. "[The Boilermakers'] energy level was so intense, and they were just quicker to the ball, they were quicker to deny on defense. And I think our players didn't match that."
Head coach Lisa Bluder agreed.
"When they hit the quick 3's right off the bat, I think, that just intensified their momentum, and it really deflated ours," she said.
Iowa mustered only six points over the next eight minutes, and the Boilermakers built up a nine-point advantage. Megan Skouby scored nine straight - including her first career 3 - to cut the deficit to five, but no one else could find the bottom of the bucket.
Iowa trailed by nine at the half on 39 percent shooting, and the Hawks were out-rebounded by nine.
"We were kind of playing catch-up, and we had a few nice minutes in the first half, but not a whole in a row and that was the problem," Jensen said.
In the second half, the Hawkeyes pulled within four, 42-38, with 12 minutes left on a Jeneé Graham free throw, but they followed that with three points in the next six minutes. The Boilermakers were in their own scoreless streak - from 13:36 to 10:17 - but pushed the lead back to eight.
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