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Thursday, Jan. 4 7:00pm ET
Purdue loses Douglas, Noon to injuries

RECAP | BOX SCORE

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- Purdue proved it can win in the Big Ten without two of its most important players.

Katie Douglas
Purdue's Katie Douglas, left, scored seven points before banging her head on the floor and suffering a mild concussion. She is expected to play Sunday.

Despite losing All-American forward Katie Douglas and backup center Mary Jo Noon to injuries, the No. 6 Boilermakers beat Iowa 73-58 Thursday night.

Noon injured her left knee while going for a rebound on a layup attempt by Iowa's Beatrice Bullock. She landed awkwardly on the ankle and may have suffered ligament damage.

Douglas hit her head on the floor late in the first half and sustained a mild concussion. She is expected to play Sunday at Indiana.

"I could tell it just wasn't Katie," Purdue coach Kristy Curry said. "The doctor said she wasn't going to go back, and that was fine."

The Boilermakers (13-3, 3-0 Big Ten) still had Camille Cooper and two talented freshmen. Cooper scored 15 points, Erika Valek scored 11 and Shalicia Hurns had 10.

"I think it shows the future's extremely bright," Curry said. "I think we'll be even more prepared. I think this will be a blessing in disguise, because it makes us understand no matter who we have on the floor, we can find a way to win in the Big 10."

Purdue was able to contain the outside game of Iowa (6-7, 1-2) and held leading scorer Lindsey Meder to 11 points, seven below her average.

"We couldn't give them open looks early," Purdue's Kelly Komara said. "We knew if they got hot early, it would be harder for us to stop them."

The Boilermakers had a 14-point first half lead sliced to nine midway through the second half. Iowa couldn't get closer as it was the victim of poor shooting, and Purdue's full-court press that helped force 19 turnovers.

"In the first half we committed too many turnovers off the press," Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. "I thought we were going to handle it better. I was very disappointed with the way we performed."

The Hawkeyes missed 20 of their first 26 shots, and finished 34 percent overall from the floor. Randi Peterson led them with 19 points.

"It was probably our best defensive effort of the season," Curry said. "We did a lot of the little things. We only gave up two uncontested shots. I want everything to be contested. Our philosophy is let's make them earn everything."

Cooper scored five straight points to give Purdue a 43-29 second-half lead, then scored five points in a game-ending 15-10 run. She said she had to temper her aggressiveness after Noon's injury.

"It kind of shook us up. It was a scary moment for the whole team," Cooper said. "Coach Curry said don't foul. It was in the back of my mind that I couldn't."

Purdue also committed 19 turnovers. Shereka Wright had nine points and nine rebounds for Purdue, and Jennie Lillis had 13 rebounds for Iowa.





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