It Doesn’t Rain on Purdue’s Parade
Stephanie White-McCarty, the ninth-leading scorer in Big Ten women’s history, found her shooting touch Saturday to lead top-ranked Purdue past Northwestern, 79-56, in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten women’s tournament at Indianapolis.
Heavy thunderstorms in Indianapolis and a leaky RCA Dome roof caused about a 15-minute delay in the second half of a later game between No. 15 Penn State and Michigan State, but the rain subsided and the Nittany Lions won, 79-74.
White-McCarty, a senior, had been in a slump lately, making only 30 of her last 81 shots from the field. But she scored 11 of her 24 points in a 19-2 run during the first half as Purdue (26-1) took the lead to stay.
White raised her career total to 2,038 and needs seven more to move past former Minnesota star Laura Coene and 22 more to pass seventh-place Cindy Haugejorde of Iowa.
Purdue’s conference-record 24th consecutive victory came in what is likely to be the last game for Northwestern Coach Don Perrelli, who has announced his retirement effective at the end of the season. Perrelli compiled a 251-181 mark in 15 seasons at Northwestern and is 426-252 in 23 seasons as a collegiate head coach.
Northwestern (12-16) saw its hopes for an upset fade as it went more than 6 1/2 minutes without scoring in the first half.
Purdue will put its streak on the line in the semifinals today against Ohio State, which defeated Wisconsin, 70-61.
Reserve Maren Walseth scored a season-high 19 points to lead Penn State (21-6). Michigan State (15-13) rallied from a 36-25 halftime deficit to tie the score at 67-67 on a three-point shot by MaxAnn Reese, who led the Spartans with 25 points. But a three-point shot by Shawnta Vanzant and a driving layup and three free throws by Walseth gave Penn State a 77-71 lead with 22 seconds left.
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Semeka Randall scored 21 of her 23 points in the second half to help No. 2 Tennessee (27-2) roll to an 80-69 victory over No. 24 Alabama (19-10) in the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals at Chattanooga, Tenn. The Volunteers, who beat the Crimson Tide for the 21st consecutive time, got 22 points from Chamique Holdsclaw, who became the SEC’s all-time leading scorer with 2,909 points. Tennessee will face No. 14 Georgia in today’s championship game. Coco Miller scored 27 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs (23-5) to a 68-62 victory over Kentucky (20-10). Georgia will be playing in its first SEC title game since 1993.
No. 3 Louisiana Tech (24-2, 12-0) became the second women’s college basketball program to reach 700 victories with a 97-57 Sun Belt victory over New Orleans (11-15, 4-8) at New Orleans. The Lady Techsters, 700-119 in 25 seasons, joined Tennessee, 784-202 in 54, in the 700-victory club.
Becky Hammon, who became the Western Athletic Conference’s all-time leading career scorer Thursday, added 36 points to her total as No. 4 Colorado State (29-1, 14-0) finished its WAC season with a 97-70 victory over Air Force (5-21, 0-14) at Air Force Academy, Colo. . . . Kizzy Dawson took a two-point shot when Dayton needed a three-point shot to send its Atlantic 10 tournament game against No. 9 Virginia Tech into a fourth overtime, and the Hokies (26-1) escaped with a 73-72 victory over the Flyers (11-17) at Philadelphia. Dawson had made a three-pointer to send the game into the second overtime.
With all five starters scoring in double figures, No. 13 North Carolina (25-6) recorded an 87-71 victory over Georgia Tech (13-14) in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament at Charlotte, N.C. The Tar Heels are seeking their fifth ACC title in six years. . . . No. 19 Virginia (20-7) extended its 21-year winning streak against Wake Forest (8-20) by scoring the final five points for a 71-67 victory in the ACC tournament. . . . Nuria Forns got No. 16 Clemson’s only field goal in the final five minutes and the Tigers (22-5) made it stand up for a 52-51 ACC tournament victory over North Carolina State (16-11).
Angie Braziel scored 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead No. 11 Texas Tech (25-3, 14-2) to a 76-56 victory over Texas (16-10, 10-6) at sold-out Lubbock Municipal Coliseum, which is being replaced with a new arena next season. The Lady Raiders finished the season with 12 wins in a row and won their second consecutive Big 12 title. . . . Baylor (16-12, 8-8) built an 18-point lead and then held off No. 20 Iowa State (20-6, 12-4) for a 70-68 Big 12 victory at Waco, Texas, behind 21 points by Kacy Moffitt. . . . Angie Finkes, starting for the first time in five games, scored a career-high 28 points as Kansas State (14-12, 7-9) recorded a 69-58 upset of No. 22 Kansas (21-8, 11-5) in a Big 12 game at Manhattan. Finkes was out because of a stress fracture in her right leg. . . . Freshman center Elizabeth Pickney scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half and tied a school record for free throws, making 12 of 13, as Arizona (16-9, 11-5) rolled to an 81-67 Pacific 10 victory over Stanford (16-11, 12-4) at Tucson. . . . Jennie Leander had 17 points and 10 rebounds as California (11-14, 5-11) came from behind in the second half for a 67-63 Pac-10 victory over Arizona State (11-14, 5-11) at Tempe, Ariz. . . . Erin Buescher scored 19 points as No. 21 UC Santa Barbara (23-3, 15-0) became the first team in 10 years to finish its Big West Conference schedule undefeated with a 94-49 rout of visiting Cal State Fullerton (4-22, 2-13).