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  Saturday, Dec. 16 4:00pm ET
Ferdinand's hot half spurs Tigers
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Once Marie Ferdinand settled down, she took control of the game.

Ke-Ke Tardy
LSU forward Ke-Ke Tardy, center, gets sandwiched between Purdue's Shereka Wright, left, and Camille Cooper.
Ferdinand scored 20 of her 25 points in the second half and made the game-winning layup with 39 seconds left as LSU (No. 16 ESPN/USA Today, No. 20 Associated Press) overcame a 16-point deficit to beat No. 6 Purdue 62-55 Saturday.

"The second half, Ferdinand became Ferdinand, and when she does that she plays well," LSU coach Sue Gunter said.

Gunter said she thought Ferdinand was overanxious in the first half because of her matchup with Purdue's Camille Cooper. They were teammates on the U.S. Select Team last summer.

The Boilermakers (8-3) appeared to have busted the game open with a 20-2 first-half run to take a 34-21 halftime lead. But the Lady Tigers (6-3) continued to chip away.

"She was excited. At halftime she settled down. We (talked) a little bit about it," Gunter said.

After a sluggish first half, Ferdinand took over in the second, making seven of her 12 shots.

"We just got together at the half and knew we could turn it around. We're friends, but on the court, we're just basketball players," Ferdinand said. "It was a huge win for us. A confidence-builder, and hopefully it can give us momentum."

LSU's defense also did a good job of shutting down Purdue's two leading scorers -- Katie Douglas and Cooper. Douglas was averaging 16 points and Cooper 14, but they were held to four and seven, respectively.

Gunter credited Angelia Crockett for her defense against Douglas.

"Crockett did an excellent job on Katie. She's one of the best players in America," Gunter said.

The Boilermakers never could find a way to stop Ferdinand.

"We did a great job the first half on her. We want to force her to go left. When she goes left, she gives it up," Purdue coach Kristy Curry said. "We let LSU be the aggressor in the second half. We weren't aggressive at all."

Gunter said the Lady Tigers' free-throw advantage was just as important. LSU went 23-for-30, while Purdue made just three of nine.

Purdue led 41-33 midway through the second half, but LSU went on a 12-4 run, with six of those points from Ferdinand, and the score was tied 45-45.

Purdue's Shereka Wright answered that run with 3-pointers on consecutive possessions. They were her first two 3-pointers of the season. The lead bounced back and forth until it was 55-55 with 2:43 left.

It remained that way until Ferdinand's layup.

Erika Valek scored 13 points and Wright had 11 for Purdue, which got 11 rebounds from Cooper.

DeTrina White led LSU with 10 rebounds.

The Lady Tigers had been 5-0 against unranked teams and 0-3 against ranked ones.
 


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