Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Purdue
Women's Basketball Edged By No. 17 Purdue, 64-57
2/6/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. - Kelly Komara hit a driving shot with 45 seconds left and Katie Douglas clinched it with six free throws as No. 17 Purdue held on for a 64-57 victory over Northwestern on Sunday.
After routing Northwestern 70-31 at home a week ago, Purdue (16-5, 8-3 Big Ten) had a much tougher time in the rematch but still managed to pull out its seventh straight victory.
Northwestern (6-15, 3-8), which started three freshmen and was shorter than Purdue at every position, made it a game with Tami Sears' strong inside play in the second half and Emily Butler's 3-pointer shooting.
Purdue led 56-54 with less than a minute to play and had not made a field goal since the 8:14 mark when Komara saw the middle of the lane open up, drove to the basket and made the shot.
After Sears made one of two free throws to cut the lead to 58-55 with 24 seconds left, Northwestern had to foul and Douglas, a 79 percent free throw shooter, made all six of her shots down the stretch. She finished 10-for-12 at the line and led all scorers with 20 points.
Camille Cooper had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Boilermakers, Shinika Parks scored 12 and Komara 10.
Helped by a $1 admission price, the game drew 3,926 fans, the largest crowd ever for a women's game at Northwestern. Those fans saw Big Ten women's basketball at its best, as the game turned out to be extremely competitive.
Sears, who did not play in the first game with the Boilermakers because of a knee injury, finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds after scoring just three points in the first half.
She had three baskets inside to key a 10-0 run that drew the Wildcats to within 35-33 early in the second half. Purdue responded with seven straight points to regain the momentum, and led 52-42 after Komara's two free throws with 6:53 to play.
But Northwestern came back again. Butler hit two of her four 3-pointers to cut the deficit to four, and Leslie Schock's jumper made it 56-54 with 1:12 left before Komara hit her shot in the lane.
Butler finished the contest with 15 points and Dana Leonard added 11, including three first-half 3-pointers that helped the Wildcats stay in it despite shooting 29 percent in the first 20 minutes.
The Wildcats will be back in action Thursday night, meeting another nationally-ranked opponent in Illinois at 7:30 p.m. in Champaign.
