The Boilermakers are waiting.
And waiting.
And, well, waiting.
Selection Monday is still a weekend away, with Purdue hoping to find out then that it has nabbed one of the final spots in the NCAA Tournament’s Field of 64.
“It will be the longest wait we’ve ever had,” sophomore Andreona Keys said Wednesday night, following Purdue’s post-regular-season banquet. “It just feels like we started the beginning of the season all over again. We’ve have so many practices. We haven’t practiced more than two days consecutively (during the Big Ten), so it’s going to be long. And then (add) the anticipation of finding out whether we make the NCAA Tournament or not.”
Purdue’s résumé, although flawed, has strengths as well. The Boilermakers won 20 games, against 11 losses, including winning four of their last five. They beat Louisville early in the season, the Cardinals having an RPI ranking of 14th, perhaps giving them the biggest marquee victory among those on the bubble. Purdue missed an opportunity at another big win, falling by a point to Michigan State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday.
But despite winning of late, Purdue’s RPI, per NCAA.com, has been dropping, from 58th when it beat Rutgers on Feb. 25 to 64 right now. And it has a couple of “bad” losses, including to Boston College (RPI 118) and Wisconsin (197).
“It’s constantly thought about,” Keys said of Purdue’s chance, “because you wanted to win the Big Ten Tournament so would secure a spot. We didn’t do that, but we know we have some quality wins. We’re hopeful.”
In his latest bracket at ESPN.com, released on Wednesday, expert Charlie Creme continues to have Purdue as one of his “last four in,” as a No. 10 seed in the Dallas Regional, playing its first- and second-round games in Corvallis, Ore.
Indiana has also joined that group, dropping down a bit from a more comfortable position, and so has Iowa, with the Hawkeyes moving up from part of the “first four out.” Right now, they’re the last team in, per Creme. And Purdue’s résumé would seem to be significantly better – Iowa is 19-13 overall, 8-10 in the Big Ten, with an RPI of 60, and was 1-1 vs. Purdue - making one feel good about the Boilermakers’ chance to stay above the line.
“I feel we’re deserving,” Coach Sharon Versyp said. “Charlie Creme, if he’s supposed to be the guru and he’s 32 out of 32 (at-large) every year, then we’re in. But he’s not sitting in that room (with the Selection Committee). A lot of it is eye test, a lot of it is if you’ve beaten top teams. There’s others who might have a better RPI than us but they haven’t beaten two-25 teams (Louisville and Northwestern), so they’re not going to make it.”
So the Boilermakers wait. On Monday night, they’ll gather together to watch the Selection Show, with only teammates, coaches, administrators and close friends of the program.
“The coaches are all like ‘We’ll make it,’ trying to be positive,” Keys said. “They might know a lot more than we do – I’ve never been in this situation before – so they’re keeping an eye on the teams that lose.”
The award winners: At the banquet on Wednesday night, Versyp handed out team awards.
They are as follows:
Most Improved: Dominique McBryde
Perseverance: Torrie Thornton
Coaches (player who does what is needed): Bridget Perry
Ruth Jones (humility, education, commitment): Keys
Roger Blalock (community work, effort): Nora Kiesler
Tom Reiter (passion for game): April Wilson
The schedule: The Boilermakers enjoyed a few days off following their loss in the Big Ten Tournament, taking a break on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
But they were back at it, with practices Tuesday and Wednesday and a scrimmage scheduled for Thursday.
“You want to get rest, but then you lose rhythm,” Versyp said. “That’s why we’re going to scrimmage to keep the legs ready.”
Purdue will practice Friday morning, then take off the next three days before gathering for the Selection Show.
The rest will be good for a couple injured Boilermakers. Keys has been nursing a tailbone bruise suffered before the Rutgers’ game. It’s affected her, most strikingly against MSU; she played only 17 minutes, in part because her limited mobility assisted in her foul trouble.
“If they knew, in the past four games, it has definitely affected me,” she said. “I’m trying the best I can. In the beginning, it was a lot worse. But now, it’s getting better.”
Thornton, too, was limited against the Spartans. After playing 25 critical minutes in the Thursday win over Penn State, she was in only five in the first half against Michigan State, then sat for all of the second. Her knees, surgically repaired a few years ago and still occasionally sore now, couldn’t take the back-to-back games.
“She played so hard and did so many great things against Penn State, played a bulk of minutes, she was a reason (we won),” Versyp said. “You get her up around 28-30 minutes and it’s hard for her to recover for the next day.
“This is going to be great rest for her. If you don’t play back-to-back days, she can really help in that second game.”
And waiting.
And, well, waiting.
Selection Monday is still a weekend away, with Purdue hoping to find out then that it has nabbed one of the final spots in the NCAA Tournament’s Field of 64.
“It will be the longest wait we’ve ever had,” sophomore Andreona Keys said Wednesday night, following Purdue’s post-regular-season banquet. “It just feels like we started the beginning of the season all over again. We’ve have so many practices. We haven’t practiced more than two days consecutively (during the Big Ten), so it’s going to be long. And then (add) the anticipation of finding out whether we make the NCAA Tournament or not.”
Purdue’s résumé, although flawed, has strengths as well. The Boilermakers won 20 games, against 11 losses, including winning four of their last five. They beat Louisville early in the season, the Cardinals having an RPI ranking of 14th, perhaps giving them the biggest marquee victory among those on the bubble. Purdue missed an opportunity at another big win, falling by a point to Michigan State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday.
But despite winning of late, Purdue’s RPI, per NCAA.com, has been dropping, from 58th when it beat Rutgers on Feb. 25 to 64 right now. And it has a couple of “bad” losses, including to Boston College (RPI 118) and Wisconsin (197).
“It’s constantly thought about,” Keys said of Purdue’s chance, “because you wanted to win the Big Ten Tournament so would secure a spot. We didn’t do that, but we know we have some quality wins. We’re hopeful.”
In his latest bracket at ESPN.com, released on Wednesday, expert Charlie Creme continues to have Purdue as one of his “last four in,” as a No. 10 seed in the Dallas Regional, playing its first- and second-round games in Corvallis, Ore.
Indiana has also joined that group, dropping down a bit from a more comfortable position, and so has Iowa, with the Hawkeyes moving up from part of the “first four out.” Right now, they’re the last team in, per Creme. And Purdue’s résumé would seem to be significantly better – Iowa is 19-13 overall, 8-10 in the Big Ten, with an RPI of 60, and was 1-1 vs. Purdue - making one feel good about the Boilermakers’ chance to stay above the line.
“I feel we’re deserving,” Coach Sharon Versyp said. “Charlie Creme, if he’s supposed to be the guru and he’s 32 out of 32 (at-large) every year, then we’re in. But he’s not sitting in that room (with the Selection Committee). A lot of it is eye test, a lot of it is if you’ve beaten top teams. There’s others who might have a better RPI than us but they haven’t beaten two-25 teams (Louisville and Northwestern), so they’re not going to make it.”
So the Boilermakers wait. On Monday night, they’ll gather together to watch the Selection Show, with only teammates, coaches, administrators and close friends of the program.
“The coaches are all like ‘We’ll make it,’ trying to be positive,” Keys said. “They might know a lot more than we do – I’ve never been in this situation before – so they’re keeping an eye on the teams that lose.”
The award winners: At the banquet on Wednesday night, Versyp handed out team awards.
They are as follows:
Most Improved: Dominique McBryde
Perseverance: Torrie Thornton
Coaches (player who does what is needed): Bridget Perry
Ruth Jones (humility, education, commitment): Keys
Roger Blalock (community work, effort): Nora Kiesler
Tom Reiter (passion for game): April Wilson
The schedule: The Boilermakers enjoyed a few days off following their loss in the Big Ten Tournament, taking a break on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
But they were back at it, with practices Tuesday and Wednesday and a scrimmage scheduled for Thursday.
“You want to get rest, but then you lose rhythm,” Versyp said. “That’s why we’re going to scrimmage to keep the legs ready.”
Purdue will practice Friday morning, then take off the next three days before gathering for the Selection Show.
The rest will be good for a couple injured Boilermakers. Keys has been nursing a tailbone bruise suffered before the Rutgers’ game. It’s affected her, most strikingly against MSU; she played only 17 minutes, in part because her limited mobility assisted in her foul trouble.
“If they knew, in the past four games, it has definitely affected me,” she said. “I’m trying the best I can. In the beginning, it was a lot worse. But now, it’s getting better.”
Thornton, too, was limited against the Spartans. After playing 25 critical minutes in the Thursday win over Penn State, she was in only five in the first half against Michigan State, then sat for all of the second. Her knees, surgically repaired a few years ago and still occasionally sore now, couldn’t take the back-to-back games.
“She played so hard and did so many great things against Penn State, played a bulk of minutes, she was a reason (we won),” Versyp said. “You get her up around 28-30 minutes and it’s hard for her to recover for the next day.
“This is going to be great rest for her. If you don’t play back-to-back days, she can really help in that second game.”
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