INDIANAPOLIS — If she has any fear, Dominique Oden isn’t showing it.
The freshman guard has totaled 44 points in the Boilermakers’ last two games in the Big Ten Tournament, helping to rally Purdue past IU with a career-high 24 on Friday before her 20 points in Saturday’s 71-60 upset of top-seeded Ohio State.
And she’s been great when it matters most. In a 90-second stretch vs. the Buckeyes, spanning the first half to the second, she hit three three-pointers, turning a Purdue deficit into an insurmountable eight-point lead. And she had the biggest shot of the day vs. the Hoosiers, with her three-pointer with 39 seconds left giving the Boilermakers a two-possession lead in a 66-60 win.
“I feel like my mindset and my mentality has definitely grown since coming into the Tournament,” Oden said. “I don’t know why, but it has, and I’m glad it has.”
Purdue’s glad, too. With Oden’s surge, the Boilermakers have a dynamic backcourt, combining the rookie shooter with veteran Ashley Morrissette’s savvy.
“We’re all extremely confident in her, but her confidence is huge,” senior Bridget Perry said. “When your teammates trust in you to hit those big shots, you’re going to do that. ‘Nique has played amazing these past games, and she’s ready to shoot, every time.
Oden, who hit four of her five three-point attempts vs. Ohio State, after she had made 5 of 8 against Indiana, is now Purdue’s all-time leader in triples among freshmen, with her 55 passing Courtney Moses.
“She was a scorer at her high school, that’s what she did,” said Andreona Keys, a fellow Georgian who had played against Oden years ago. “So she knows she can hit big shots and she’s always put in that situation. She’s shooting with people’s hands in her face and for whatever reason they keep leaving her open, I don’t understand it, and she’s hitting them.”
• With the win over No. 9 Ohio State, Purdue got the marquee win it sought, the missing piece of a now-strengthened NCAA Tournament résumé.
The Boilermakers have battled back from a slow start to the season, in which they won only one of their first four, with two losses to teams (Maine and Southern Illinois) that are plus-130 in the RPI.
But although Purdue had recovered to finish 10-6 in the Big Ten, it did so without a victory against one of the league’s top four finishers. Until Saturday, when the Boilermakers got Ohio State. They’ll get another chance vs. Maryland, with Sunday’s winner getting the Big Ten’s automatic bid.
But even before that, Purdue could move from “the next four out,” per Charlie Creme on his ESPN bracket, into the Field of 64.
Keys thinks the Boilermakers have.
“But we hope that the people who are putting teams in believe that too, so we’ll see what they want,” Keys said. “Either way, win (Sunday) and they have no choice but to put us in.”
• Purdue’s seniors — Morrissette and Perry — are tone-setters.
And Saturday, they combined for 35 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals and two blocks.
“I just thanked Ashley and Bridget for carrying us to the finals,” Coach Sharon Versyp said. “They deserve that. They’re the most competitive, most fierce competitors. I’ll be on their team any day because I know they have my back.”
The freshman guard has totaled 44 points in the Boilermakers’ last two games in the Big Ten Tournament, helping to rally Purdue past IU with a career-high 24 on Friday before her 20 points in Saturday’s 71-60 upset of top-seeded Ohio State.
And she’s been great when it matters most. In a 90-second stretch vs. the Buckeyes, spanning the first half to the second, she hit three three-pointers, turning a Purdue deficit into an insurmountable eight-point lead. And she had the biggest shot of the day vs. the Hoosiers, with her three-pointer with 39 seconds left giving the Boilermakers a two-possession lead in a 66-60 win.
“I feel like my mindset and my mentality has definitely grown since coming into the Tournament,” Oden said. “I don’t know why, but it has, and I’m glad it has.”
Purdue’s glad, too. With Oden’s surge, the Boilermakers have a dynamic backcourt, combining the rookie shooter with veteran Ashley Morrissette’s savvy.
“We’re all extremely confident in her, but her confidence is huge,” senior Bridget Perry said. “When your teammates trust in you to hit those big shots, you’re going to do that. ‘Nique has played amazing these past games, and she’s ready to shoot, every time.
Oden, who hit four of her five three-point attempts vs. Ohio State, after she had made 5 of 8 against Indiana, is now Purdue’s all-time leader in triples among freshmen, with her 55 passing Courtney Moses.
“She was a scorer at her high school, that’s what she did,” said Andreona Keys, a fellow Georgian who had played against Oden years ago. “So she knows she can hit big shots and she’s always put in that situation. She’s shooting with people’s hands in her face and for whatever reason they keep leaving her open, I don’t understand it, and she’s hitting them.”
• With the win over No. 9 Ohio State, Purdue got the marquee win it sought, the missing piece of a now-strengthened NCAA Tournament résumé.
The Boilermakers have battled back from a slow start to the season, in which they won only one of their first four, with two losses to teams (Maine and Southern Illinois) that are plus-130 in the RPI.
But although Purdue had recovered to finish 10-6 in the Big Ten, it did so without a victory against one of the league’s top four finishers. Until Saturday, when the Boilermakers got Ohio State. They’ll get another chance vs. Maryland, with Sunday’s winner getting the Big Ten’s automatic bid.
But even before that, Purdue could move from “the next four out,” per Charlie Creme on his ESPN bracket, into the Field of 64.
Keys thinks the Boilermakers have.
“But we hope that the people who are putting teams in believe that too, so we’ll see what they want,” Keys said. “Either way, win (Sunday) and they have no choice but to put us in.”
• Purdue’s seniors — Morrissette and Perry — are tone-setters.
And Saturday, they combined for 35 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals and two blocks.
“I just thanked Ashley and Bridget for carrying us to the finals,” Coach Sharon Versyp said. “They deserve that. They’re the most competitive, most fierce competitors. I’ll be on their team any day because I know they have my back.”
