Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 17, 1994 TAG: 9403170119
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB NICHOLSON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. LENGTH: Medium
Radford University made an early exit in its first women's NCAA Tournament on Wednesday night, losing to eighth-ranked Purdue 103-56.
The Highlanders (18-12) fell behind the co-Big Ten Conference champion 25-10 in the first 10 minutes and never recovered. The Boilermakers led 49-22 at halftime behind 13 points from sophomore forward Tonya Kirk, who was one of six Purdue scorers in double figures.
Freshman Leslie Johnson led the Boilermakers with 18 points in only 27 minutes, and Kirk added 16 points.
Purdue, seeded No. 1 in the West Region, advances to play host to the Boise State-Washington winner Sunday. Radford was seeded No. 16.
"Purdue did a great job," said Lubomyr Lichonczak, Radford's coach. "They showed why they are the No. 1 seed in the region. We had a great season and have nothing to hang our heads about. We lost to a great team."
Nicole Gardiner led the Highlanders with 12 points. Shannan Wilkey, Radford's leading scorer with a 21.8 average, was limited to two points in the first half, both on free throws. She finished with eight points.
Lichonczak said his team ran into trouble early when point guard Mindy Ballinger was forced to the bench with foul problems.
"When Mindy got into foul trouble, we moved Shannan to the point, and when she is at the point we don't get her enough scoring opportunities," Lichonczak said. "We had a difficult time in stopping them. Because we did not stop them, we did not get our running game going. [Wilkey] gets a lot of points in transition, but we didn't get her the ball.
"We basically played a half-court game with them. We knew that would be tough. They [Purdue] put a 6-foot-1 kid on her and knew to stop her."
Lichonczak was referring to Kirk's defensive performance on Wilkey, was 0-of-6 from the field in the first half. The Highlanders missed 16 of their first 17 shots.
"We knew Purdue would be physical," Lichonczak said. "They were big. They were pushing us around, but our kids played their hearts out. They hit some shots when we decided to sag, then went inside when we came out on them.
"It was a Catch-22. That was basically the story of the game."
Wilkey said Radford's early downfall may have been because the Highlanders were too anxious.
"I think it was a combination of us being really excited and playing before a large crowd and us just being in the NCAA Tournament," she said. "Our shots weren't falling because we were a little tight. Once we started making our shots, we knew we could hang with them.
"We knew we would have to sag in. We did not do as well executing. It was more rugged than I expected, and their quickness gave us problems. They turned up the pressure and forced us to make some bad passes."
The crowd of 5,096 at Mackey Arena, with a capacity of 14,123, was the largest Radford has played in front of this season.
Purdue (26-4) broke open the game by outscoring the Highlanders 18-3 to take a 22-6 lead with 12:22 left in the first half. Radford shot 20.7 percent (6-of-29) and was outrebounded 34-12. Purdue hit 45.7 percent of its shots.
Radford finished 16-of-57 from the field for 28.1 percent, its worst performance of the season. The Highlanders shot 28.4 percent on Jan. 28 in a 64-47 loss to Maryland-Baltimore County.
Purdue used its inside strength and size advantage to post a 58-28 rebound edge. The Boilermakers dominated the offensive glass 25-10.
"We knew from the film we were bigger," Dunn said. "We definitely had a size advantage."
Radford earned a spot in the 64-team tournament by winning its fifth consecutive Big South Conference championship. The Highlanders have won seven of the first eight Big South tournament titles.
It was only the second time in Radford's 23-year women's basketball history it has played a Big Ten team. The Highlanders lost 76-56 to Minnesota in the third game of the 1988-89 season.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB