In the first five minutes of the fourth quarter Sunday, Ae’Rianna Harris scored six points for the Boilermakers, appearing — for a moment at least — to be a catalyst for what could be a huge upset over Ohio State.
Although Purdue went on to lose, giving up a late four-point lead that Harris had helped it build, that didn’t diminish the freshman’s performance. And maybe it can mark a breakout.
“Hopefully,” Harris said. “Shots won’t fall every game, but as long as you’re playing hard and you keep going, running the plays and doing what you’re supposed to do, you can’t be mad at that.”
Harris, pushed into the starting lineup due to Bridget Perry’s absence (concussion), scored a career-high tying 10 points vs. the Buckeyes, matching her previous outing against Wisconsin. It’s been a pretty good string of late; in the last three games, the 6-foot-1 forward has 26 points, 17 rebounds, nine blocks and four steals.
“Anytime, you have a freshman out there, it’s a process,” captain Ashley Morrissette said, “but she’s coming along nicely. We like to see that out of a freshman.”
That process might be sped up. Because of the Boilermakers’ frontcourt injury situation — Bree Horrocks is out for the year, while Nora Kiesler missed six of seven before returning vs. OSU — Harris has been pressed into big minutes. She’s playing 19.3 per game, including the career-high 31 against the Buckeyes.
“With the numbers being low, you have the opportunity to work on your game more in practice and then getting the minutes you get to do it again in the game,” said Harris, who is averaging 6.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. “And the more you do, the more repetitive you are with it, the better you get with whatever you’re wanting to do.”
The Boilermakers could use the inside help, particularly the scoring. They’ve not had it consistently this season, not with Dominique McBryde laboring to regularly find her offensive game.
But Sunday, Harris and McBryde combined for 22 points, and 18 rebounds, on 11-of-16 shooting. The duo might not be that efficient every outing, but they have to be threats, at least.
“It will help a lot,” Morrissette said. “When we throw the ball in and they are a scoring threat, people have to play defense on them. And the inside-outside game will work more.”
Harris’ confidence is up. Early in the fourth, she scored on a layup off a Morrissette feed and on a backdoor lob. In between, she hit a 16-foot jumper, afterward saying that she was channeling former Lawrence North teammate and Northwestern sophomore Jordan Hankins, who died unexpectedly earlier this month.
But it’s a part of Harris’ game that could continue to develop.
“She can knock down the 15-foot shot,” Coach Sharon Versyp said. “It’s not her go-to but if she has it open, we say just be confident and she’s not hesitating. That’s what players need to do. She can score down low, offensive boards, we have a lot of lob plays for her. But it’s that she’s not playing out of her comfort zone and is doing what she does well for the team.”
• Purdue doesn’t yet know whether it will get Perry back for Thursday’s game at Indiana.
But the senior forward is progressing. Perry was injured after taking a hip to the head during a practice before the OSU game, but she was cleared enough by Tuesday afternoon for non-contact drills during practice.
Perry was scheduled to take another test on Wednesday and then on Thursday, if needed, to get out of the concussion protocol.
“Hopefully it will all work out,” Versyp said.
The Boilermakers have had to maintain a balance of late, of trying to practice as hard and as efficiently as possible, while also understanding they’re short on roster numbers.
In short, Purdue has to keep practicing, but be smart in doing so.
“The two days before (games) are real important in preparation, from a conditioning standpoint, game plan, working on ourselves, being aggressive,” Versyp said. “Even though you’re in shape, you need to keep that edge.”
• Purdue and Indiana play at 8 p.m. Thursday in Assembly Hall in the only regular-season game scheduled between the rivals.
It’s been rare over the years that the Boilermakers (12-7 overall, 3-2 in the Big Ten) head into the game as underdogs, but one could make that argument this season. But IU (12-6, 2-3), which had been ranked in the top-25 earlier this season, has lost three of its last four.
“We’re definitely looking forward to this game, because it’s a rivalry,” Morrissette said. “But we’re going to try to do the same things on defense that we have been in the past five games. We’re looking to hold them below their scoring average, limit their best players and obviously execute and score on them in transition.”
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