INDIANAPOLIS — Marie Ferdinand scored 20 of her 25 points in the second half as LSU’s 16th-ranked women’s basketball team rallied from a 15 point second-half deficit to upset No. 6 Purdue, 62-55, at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
“For us, we needed this so badly. We needed to play well against a good team,” said LSU coach Sue Gunter. “We have had so many bad things happen to us, it was time for us to make something good happen and finally it did. The one thing that really stood out is what an outstanding team effort it was.”
The win, LSU’s third in a row, improves the Lady Tigers to 6-3 on the year. Purdue fell to 8-3 with their second straight loss, both to ranked foes.
“The players just gave me a Christmas present. I am going to take it and run.”
With 38 seconds remaining, Ferdinand hit a backdoor lay up and was fouled to break a 55-55 tie. She hit the ensuing free throw to give LSU a three-point lead late. After a defensive stop, Angelia Crockett hit two free throws to put away the Boilermakers.
It is the first time all season that LSU has been at full strength as April Brown played for the first time in three games. Brown, still not at 100 percent after knee surgery, played 20 minutes and had nine points.
“It was a big plus for us to be able to go to DeTrina (White), to April (Brown), to Ke-Ke (Tardy). For us to have everybody and be able to get a really strong rotation,” Gunter noted of having a full squad. “April gave us 20 minutes. Who would have thought April would have been able to give us 20 minutes.”
Ke-Ke Tardy and Roneeka Hodges each had 10 points for LSU to give the Lady Tigers three players in double-figures. Purdue was led by freshmen Erika Valek and Shereka Wright, who had 13 and 11 points respectively
A huge key for LSU’s victory was the defensive play of Crockett and White, who shut down Purdue’s two All-Americans, Katie Douglas and Camille Cooper. The duo combined for just 11 points on 5 of 16 shooting. Douglas did not score in the second half.
“DeTrina White made a couple of outstanding defensive plays, tipping balls trying to enter the post. She had a couple of boards where she just really got up and stretched.”
LSU’s defense also forced 18 Boilermaker turnovers while the Lady Tigers committed just 11 of their own. LSU’s also sent Purdue to the free throw line just nine times in the game. Meanwhile, the Lady Tigers reached the line 30 times, converting 22 for 77 percent.
“We talked about penetration. We really wanted to get to the free throw line,” said Gunter of her team’s attacking play. “Last night when we were watching film, coach (Bob) Starkey mentioned how many times Purdue got to the free throw line. It seemed like one of the things we needed to do was get really aggressive and go to the hole ourselves. We shot like 30 free throws and quite frankly that was the difference in the game.”
The Lady Tigers trailed 36-21 early in the second half before beginning to chip away at the lead. An eight-point run capped by a Ferdinand lay up cut the lead to seven before Purdue regained its composure and extended the lead back to double-digits at 45-35.
Not deterred, LSU went on a 10-0 run, which culminated with a four-point possession that tied the game. Ferdinand layed one in and was fouled to cut the lead to two. After missing the ensuing free throw, Roneeka Hodges ended up with the ball and was fouled. She hit two free throws to knot the game at 45-45.
“It seemed like we had all the momentum and we got in that rhythm that we need,” said Gunter.
Wright ended the run with back-to-back three pointers, sandwiched around two Ke-Ke Tardy free throws, giving the lead back to Purdue at 51-47. The Lady Tigers would score the next four and again tie the game.
After trading baskets, White scored her first basket of the game to give LSU its first lead since early in the first half at 55-53. White finished with four points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
“We didn’t say a lot (at halftime),” Gunter said. “We felt we had just shut it down in the second 10 minutes of the first half. It just wasn’t us and we wanted to make a statement. I think the last thing we said wasn’t whether or not you win this basketball game, but whether or not you play well.”
After taking an early 10-7 lead, the Lady Tigers went cold from the field, scoring just two points over the course of 12 minutes and 35 seconds. Purdue took full advantage of LSU’s drought from the field and took a 27-12 lead.
The Boilermakers would hold on for a 34-21 halftime lead as the Lady Tigers were just 6 of 23 from the floor in the first 20 minutes.