Before her Old Dominion team outmuscled Purdue 74-70 in overtime Monday night, coach Wendy Larry said the second-round NCAA tournament showdown had the potential to become “a wing-ding doodler.”
That’s what it was, if the term means a furious, physical, board-crashing, shot-blocking, body-banging exchange of raw emotions and floor burns.
Throughout the game, a crowd of 5,680 partisan Boilermakers fans kept up an ear-splitting din in Mackey Arena.
“It hurts right now,” said Kelly Komara, Purdue’s senior guard and team leader whose college career came to an abrupt end. “But down the road, I’ll look back and say, `Oh, yes, that was a good one. It was a dandy!'”
Old Dominion (27-5) snapped Purdue’s 26-game home winning streak.The Boilermakers, who were seeded No. 2 in the Mideast Regional, finish 24-6.
The No. 7-seeded Monarchs advanced to play Kansas State in the Mideast Regional on Saturday in Milwaukee because Hamchetou Maiga, Monique Coker and Sharron Francis, respectively, led their team in rebounding, shot-blocking and clutch shooting.
The 6-foot-1-inch Maiga ripped down 17 rebounds as her teammates outrebounded the Boilermakers 54-34. She also led the Monarchs with 17 points.
Coker, also 6-1, had 10 of those rebounds. She also made five of her team’s 12 blocks, including one on Shereka Wright’s 10-foot fadeaway attempt to break a 60-60 tie with six seconds left in regulation.
Francis, a 5-8 senior guard, sank the important first basket in overtime and then went 4-for-4 from the foul line, while the Boilers battled to catch up.
Officials called 47 fouls, 27 on the Monarchs. Purdue hit 29-of-42 free throws, 12-of-17 by Wright (22 points). Old Dominion made 18-of-25.
“Old Dominion is absolutely the best No. 7 seed I’ve ever seen,” Purdue coach Kristy Curry said. “You can’t miss 13 free throws and get outrebounded by 20 and win against a team this good.”
Said Larry: “We felt like we were better than a 7 seed. It was a true battle of respect.”
