April Wilson had big visions for her first game this season.
But it didn't go quite as she planned.
The junior point guard, suspended the first two games of the season, had six points, four assists and five rebounds, but she missed six of her eight shots and had six turnovers. Purdue lost Wednesday 81-78 to Green Bay in double overtime.
"My expectations might have been way too high," she said Friday, as Purdue prepared to host Toledo at 2 p.m. Sunday. "I was just ready to go. It's my junior year and get it started. I was aiming for no mistakes, but obviously that's not going to happen. I got a little down, but I'm going to bounce back the next game."
Purdue needs Wilson on top of her game, not only distributing - she averaged 4.7 assists per outing last season - but scoring too, helping to make up for the loss of perimeter points from last year. But against the Phoenix, she thought, she deferred too often, and didn't take the shots available.
At one point Wednesday, Coach Sharon Versyp pulled Wilson off to the side, put her arm around the point guard and offered some advice.
"She was also just telling me to take the open shot," Wilson said. "I was passing up too many shots and passing too much and it was leading to a turnover.
"We lost our two leading scorers from last year and I definitely need to be able to pick up that weight. I know we have other scorers, but as a point guard I need to be able to distribute but also score at the same time."
Versyp thought Wilson played "OK," but needs more.
"I wanted more communication, more controlling of the tempo," Versyp said. "She did some good things and did OK at others. I didn't think she looked for her shot. She has a great pull-up shot but wasn't a threat at all offensively. We've got to make sure that that flow comes back; she's been doing very well in practice, so we've got to carry that over from practice to games."
• Free throws are in focus.
The Boilermakers, who set a school-record for percentage last season, made only 17 of their 26 freebies vs. Green Bay including an overtime stretch where they missed 6-of-8.
Wilson says it's focus.
"And taking our time," she said. "We have 10 seconds (to shoot) and I think a lot of our free throws were rushed and we really didn't take our time."
Good shooters missed. Whitney Bays, who hit 78 percent last year, missed four in the overtimes. Wilson missed one that likely would have won the game at the end of the first extra.
"We had the horses that we wanted, great free throw shooters," Versyp said. "It's not like we had other people put in those situations. We can't change what we do. They go very hard and we shoot a bunch of free throws. We do it in every possible way, but it's a tough situation and you've got to knock them down."
• Versyp said Purdue needs a "sense of urgency" from the jump.
"Listening to the game plan, executing it, trusting the system. And it's always defense and rebounding, and you have to finish your free throws, so when you go back it's defense and free throws and rebounding that lost the game. Those are correctable things, so hopefully we'll correct them."
But it didn't go quite as she planned.
The junior point guard, suspended the first two games of the season, had six points, four assists and five rebounds, but she missed six of her eight shots and had six turnovers. Purdue lost Wednesday 81-78 to Green Bay in double overtime.
"My expectations might have been way too high," she said Friday, as Purdue prepared to host Toledo at 2 p.m. Sunday. "I was just ready to go. It's my junior year and get it started. I was aiming for no mistakes, but obviously that's not going to happen. I got a little down, but I'm going to bounce back the next game."
Purdue needs Wilson on top of her game, not only distributing - she averaged 4.7 assists per outing last season - but scoring too, helping to make up for the loss of perimeter points from last year. But against the Phoenix, she thought, she deferred too often, and didn't take the shots available.
At one point Wednesday, Coach Sharon Versyp pulled Wilson off to the side, put her arm around the point guard and offered some advice.
"She was also just telling me to take the open shot," Wilson said. "I was passing up too many shots and passing too much and it was leading to a turnover.
"We lost our two leading scorers from last year and I definitely need to be able to pick up that weight. I know we have other scorers, but as a point guard I need to be able to distribute but also score at the same time."
Versyp thought Wilson played "OK," but needs more.
"I wanted more communication, more controlling of the tempo," Versyp said. "She did some good things and did OK at others. I didn't think she looked for her shot. She has a great pull-up shot but wasn't a threat at all offensively. We've got to make sure that that flow comes back; she's been doing very well in practice, so we've got to carry that over from practice to games."
• Free throws are in focus.
The Boilermakers, who set a school-record for percentage last season, made only 17 of their 26 freebies vs. Green Bay including an overtime stretch where they missed 6-of-8.
Wilson says it's focus.
"And taking our time," she said. "We have 10 seconds (to shoot) and I think a lot of our free throws were rushed and we really didn't take our time."
Good shooters missed. Whitney Bays, who hit 78 percent last year, missed four in the overtimes. Wilson missed one that likely would have won the game at the end of the first extra.
"We had the horses that we wanted, great free throw shooters," Versyp said. "It's not like we had other people put in those situations. We can't change what we do. They go very hard and we shoot a bunch of free throws. We do it in every possible way, but it's a tough situation and you've got to knock them down."
• Versyp said Purdue needs a "sense of urgency" from the jump.
"Listening to the game plan, executing it, trusting the system. And it's always defense and rebounding, and you have to finish your free throws, so when you go back it's defense and free throws and rebounding that lost the game. Those are correctable things, so hopefully we'll correct them."
