#16/20 Purdue Ekes Out a 54-53 Win at Stroh

Thursday, November 17

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Purdue

Alexis Rogers (32) and Jill Stein celebrate a BG basket vs. Purdue (photo by Brad Phalin)

November 17, 2011 | Women's Basketball

Late basket by Moses gives Boilermakers the victory in first game in BG's new building

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Courtney Moses hit a layup with just 13.5 seconds remaining, lifting nationally-ranked Purdue University to a 54-53 win over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team Thursday night (Nov. 17). The non-conference game was the first-ever regular-season women's hoops contest in the brand-new Stroh Center.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
PHOTO GALLERY - Brad Phalin, BGSU Photo Services
BGSU POSTGAME AUDIO: Curt Miller | Rogers & Slagle
PURDUE POSTGAME AUDIO: Versyp, Moses & Guyton
Scroll down for video of the postgame press conferences

With the victory, Purdue improves to 2-0 on the year. The Boilermakers are ranked 16th in the nation in this week's Associated Press poll and 20th in the USA Today ESPN rankings. The Falcons drop to 0-2 on the young season.

Redshirt sophomore Alexis Rogers had 10 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for the Falcons, who battled back from a 40-29 second-half deficit. BG went on a 20-4 run to take a five-point lead with six-and-a-half minutes left, only to see the Boilermakers answer with six quick points to regain the lead, 50-49.

Sophomore Jill Stein's jumper gave the Falcons the lead once again, with 4:14 remaining. From there, neither team would score again until the final minute of play.

Brittany Rayburn converted a layup in traffic with 51.1 seconds left, but junior Chrissy Steffen knocked down a pair of free throws with 27.2 seconds on the clock. The Falcons nearly came up with a steal on the next possession, as a BG defender knocked the ball away from Rayburn, but it rolled out of bounds under the BG basket with 15.3 seconds remaining.

Moses, inbounding the ball for the Boilermakers, passed the ball to herself. She banked it off of Rogers, grabbed it and hit what proved to be the game-winning layup.

BG had one final chance, as redshirt junior Danielle Havel got a shot off from the three-point line in the right corner. Havel's shot was just off the mark, however, and a Purdue player batted the ball toward midcourt. Senior Jessica Slagle chased the ball down, but did not have time to turn and shoot before the final horn sounded.

Steffen had nine points for the Falcons, while freshman Jasmine Matthews scored eight. Classmate Logan Pastor and Slagle had seven points apiece, with Havel and sophomore Jillian Halfhill adding five each.

Rayburn had 18 points to lead three Purdue players in double figures. Moses scored 13 points and had a game-high six assists, while Alex Guyton had 12 points for the visitors.

Both teams started slowly at the offensive end. KK Houser scored the game's first points, before Rogers got the Falcons on the board with a layup. The Boilermakers took a 7-2 lead before a long two-pointer by Matthews cut BG's deficit to three points heading into the first media timeout.

Each team turned the ball over six times prior to that first media stoppage, which came just over five minutes into the contest.

Rayburn's layup was answered by a Slagle free throw, making the score 9-5, but neither team would score for the next four-plus minutes. When Moses got free for a three-pointer, the visitors' lead was seven points with 9:04 left in the half.

And, after that triple, the teams went nearly three more minutes without scoring. Two Rayburn charity tosses gave the Boilermakers a 14-5 advantage at the 6:18 mark.

The Falcons, by that point, had made only two of the first 21 shots from the field (.095). But, BGSU, and Pastor in particular, suddenly got hot. The freshman knocked down a pull-up jumper withi 6:07 left before halftime. That shot gave the Falcons their first points in over seven minutes, and it marked BG's first field goal in close to nine minutes.

Pastor was just getting started, though. The Uniontown, Ohio, native manufactured her own personal 7-0 run, She hit a layup, then knocked down a three-pointer off of a Havel pass. Suddenly, Purdue's lead was down to two points.

Rayburn answered with a layup, but Slagle drove the baseline and converted a layup of her own, cutting the visitors' advantage to 16-14.

Steffen split a pair of free throws with 2:41 left in the half, and Havel drilled a three-point try with 34 seconds left in the period, giving BGSU the lead for the first time. The Falcons took that 18-16 advantage into the locker room.

BGSU shot only 23.3 percent from the field in the opening half, but held the visitors to just a 26.3% success rate. The Boilermakers turned the ball over 16 times in the opening period.

Purdue struck quickly in the second half, with layups on the first three possessions. Guyton, Rayburn and Moses scored from close range for a 22-18 lead.

Slagle backed her defender down for a layup, and the senior then got herself to the line and hit a pair of free throws to tie the score.

Purdue forged back ahead on a pair of Guyton jumpers. Guyton had all 12 of her points in the second half. Pastor, aided by a teeth-rattling screen by Rogers, drove down the lane and fired a pass to Havel for an easy layup.

Moses, however, hit a three-pointer, then stole the ball and converted an old-fashioned three-point play to increase the lead to 32-24.

Halfhill fed Rogers for a layup, and Rogers returned the favor several minutes later, finding Halfhill for a three-pointer from the right corner. But, Chelsea Jones and Guyton hit jumpers to increase Purdue's lead to a game-high 11 points, 40-29, with 12:03 remaining. The Boilermakers made 11 of the first 16 field-goal tries of the half.

Back battled BG, as Steffen hit a layup. Then, Rogers stole the ball from Houser and sent it ahead to Halfhill for an easy layup.

Rayburn answered with a hoop, but Rogers hit a pair of free throws. Then, a four-point play by Matthews cut the lead to just three points. The freshman, seemingly out of nowhere, fired a three-pointer that hit nothing but net with 9:28 remaining, and made the ensuing free throw after Guyton was called for a foul.

Stein blocked a Houser shot and grabbed the rebound. On the next possession, a long pass forward appeared to be heading out of bounds. But, Matthews saved the ball to the streaking Rogers, who laid it in to cut PU's lead to a single point.

A steal by Rogers on the next possession led to two Matthews free throws, giving the Brown and Orange a 43-42 lead witih 8:47 left. Steffen came up with a steal, was fouled and split her two tosses.

Guyton scored again, but Steffen answered with a spectacular shot, as her up-and-under layup try banked high off the glass and in. She followed that 'and-one' layup by making a free throw, and after a Stein steal, a Rogers foul-line jumper gave the Falcons a five-point lead, BGSU's largest of the game. Purdue called timeout with 6:31 remaining and BG up by a 49-44 score.

The Boilermakers answered with a 6-0 run over the next few minutes. Guyton made a jumper out of the timeout, and Rayburn followed two free throws with a layup at the 4:28 mark. Stein answered with a short-corner J with 4:14 on the clock, giving BG a 51-50 lead and setting the stage for the final minutes.

Purdue shot 58.6% from the floor in the second half and finished 22-of-45 (45.8%) for the game. The Falcons were 11-of-26 in the final half to finish with a 32.1% field-goal rate on the evening. BGSU turned the ball over 18 times, but forced the Boilermakers into 23 turnovers.

Purdue had a narrow 32-27 rebounding advantage. In addition to leading the Falcons in scoring with her 10 points, Rogers paced all players with eight rebounds, including five at the offensive end.

BGSU had 14 steals, the team's highest total since the 2009-10 season opener. Havel led the way with four steals, while Rogers and Slagle had three apiece.

The Falcons are home again on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 20), hosting the University of Evansville at the Stroh Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.