WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Despite out-shooting and out-rebounding the eighth-ranked team in the nation on its home floor by considerable margins Friday night, No. 20 UC Santa Barbara fell at Purdue 65-61.
With the loss the Gauchos concluded their nine-day, three-state, three-game road with a 1-2 mark, and now stand at 5-3 overall in 2002-03. The Boilermakers - who shot just 30.8% and had a 49-37 deficiency on the boards - improved to 8-1 on the season with their seventh-straight victory.
The first half in Mackey Arena was controlled by UCSB, which never trailed over the opening 20 minutes. The visitors owned a 19-12 lead at the 6:01 mark and then built its largest cushion at 27-18 when April McDivitt fed Lindsay Taylor for one of her career-high tying eight assists with just under two minutes remaining.
Undeterred, Purdue quickly scored the next seven points. After missing their first 11 three-point tries, Erika Valek finally connected from long-range for the Boilermakers with 51 ticks showing on the clock, and Lindsay Hicks added a layup on their next possession. Playing for the final shot, Santa Barbara got the ball into the hands of McDivitt, who buried a "trey" from the top of the key just before the buzzer sounded. The Gauchos led 30-25 heading into intermission.
That advantage quickly evaporated as Hicks and Emily Heikes nailed jumpers on the home team's first two possessions of the second half, and the Boilermakers took their first lead at 33-32 when Valek hit paydirt at the 17:29 mark. The senior point guard later capped a 10-2 Purdue run with just over 13 minutes remaining, giving her squad a 46-38 advantage.
UCSB responded with a 9-2 run of its own, and finally caught its opponent at 56-56 with 3:55 left when Brandy Richardson buried a pair of free-throws, her only points of the game. After holding the Boilermakers to just a free-throw on their two ensuing possessions, Taylor was fouled in the act and buried both of her shots from the charity stripe, putting Santa Barbara ahead 58-57 as the clock read 2:08.
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Purdue's Shereka Wtright then calmly sunk a jump shot to reclaim the lead, and after the Gauchos failed to convert the senior All-American was intentionally left open beyond the arc on the left wing. After misfiring on her first four three-point attempts, Wright found the bottom of the net as the home team lead 62-58 with 1:08 to play.
That lead increased by a point when Valek made one-of-two from the line, but McDivitt quickly silenced the crowd of 8,479 with a bank-shot three-pointer from the top of the key with a defender in her face. Valek then converted on a pair of freebies with 13 seconds remaining, prompting Boilermaker head coach Kristy Curry to cal timeout to make sure her troops were all on the same page defensively. The strategy worked, as UCSB could not muster a quality shot on its final possession and time ran out on its upset bid.
Junior forward Kristen Mann played one of her finest games in a Gaucho uniform with a season-high 21 points on nine-of-18 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. Taylor joined her in the double-double club by scoring 17 points and leading all players with 14 boards despite being saddled with her fourth personal foul early in the final period. As a team Santa Barbara shot 37.3% and their 49 rebounds were a season-best, however the visitors committed 17 turnovers compared to just six by a veteran Purdue squad.
In spite of a six-for-17 shooting performance, Wright repeatedly found her way to the free-throw line and finished with 23 points while also grabbing nine rebounds. Valek and Heikes added 12 and 10 points, respectively for the defending Big 10 Conference Tournament Champions.
UCSB will take an eight-day break for the Christmas holiday before opening a four-game homestand on Sunday, Dec. 28 against 17th-ranked Ohio State. Tip-off in the Thunderdome is slated for 2:00 p.m.
