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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) -- Mary Jo Noon was down on the floor,
writhing with pain in her lower back, waiting for a stretcher. Her
teammates gathered around, held hands and began praying.
It's something the Purdue Boilermakers (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) have become too
accustomed to doing.
They prayed together when Tiffany Young, a member of Purdue's
1999 NCAA women's championship team, died July 31, 1999, in a car
crash. They prayed when Katie Douglas' mother died this past
spring. And they prayed again as Noon was taken to a hospital,
where she was treated and released.
Noon had 13 points, one point off her season high, when she went
down midway through the second half of the Boilermakers' 89-59
victory over Valparaiso on Wednesday night.
"Anytime you see one of your friends, one of your teammates,
one of your family go down like that it's hard," guard Kelly
Komara said. "She has a lot of people pulling for her."
Coach Kristy Curry said the team is incredibly close because of
all they've been through.
"We just really love each other," she said.
The Boilermakers were in command throughout as their defense was
too much for undersized Valparaiso, which could not handle Purdue's
full-court press and frequently was forced to put up bad shots as
the shot clock expired.
"In the first half our play was awful and in the second half
our play was worse," Valparaiso coach Keith Freeman said. "You
would not know what our game plan was based on what we did out
there."
The game plan was to play patient half-court offense, but
Valparaiso's 27 turnovers led to too many easy baskets for the
Boilermakers (8-1), who won their fifth straight. They face No. 4
Notre Dame on Saturday.
The 89 points were a season high for Purdue, which has scored 80
or more points in five games this season. The Boilermakers scored
80 or more just twice last season.
The loss was the third straight for Valparaiso (1-5), which lost
its other home game this season to Notre Dame.
Purdue had no trouble with the Crusaders even though Douglas,
who leads the Boilermakers at 17 points a game, was 0-for-3 from
the field and had only four points, sitting the entire second half.
She has been bothered by a sore left knee.
"She was resting for Notre Dame," Curry said.
Erika Valek led the Boilermakers with 14 points. Camille Cooper
had 13 points for the Boilermakers in only 17 minutes. Shalicia
Hurns also had 13.
Amber Schober led Valparaiso with 13 points. Kathryn Knoester
and Carie Wickham added 10 points each.
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ALSO SEE
Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
Purdue Clubhouse
Valparaiso Clubhouse
Purdue's Graham leaving Boilermakers
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