Purdue center wins the battle in the paint

WEST LAFAYETTE -- Whenever a lazy pass flew her way, she snatched it from the air. If a smaller opponent stood in her way of the basket, she stepped to the side and nailed a shot.\nIn the eighth annual Barn Burner game, Purdue's Camille Cooper exposed IU's rebounding weaknesses and took advantage of the Hoosiers' early foul trouble. She scored 25 points and was named the game's most valuable player in the Boilermakers' (23-4, 13-1 Big Ten) blowout win 87-46.\nWith the win, the Boilers clinch a share of the regular season Big Ten title.\nCooper won Thursday night's battle of the Big Ten's arguably best centers. IU junior Jill Chapman, the Big Ten player of the week, had seven points -- all in the second half, often with Cooper out of the game. \n Chapman fouled out with four minutes remaining, but Cooper was able to enjoy the 41-point blowout from the bench with six minutes to go.\n "She did a nice job of finishing her shots tonight," Purdue coach Kristy Curry said of Cooper. "She only missed a couple. She showed the grit and the grind. We're going to keep going to her. She's proven she's the best center in the Big Ten. There's no question about that."\nBy halftime, Cooper had 15 points -- more than her season average 14 -- and zero fouls. Chapman sat all but a handful of minutes of the first half with two fouls. Sophomore Erika Christenson, junior Jelena Lazic and sophomore Allison Skapin took turns replacing Chapman, but they couldn't contain Cooper either.\nIU coach Kathi Bennett said Chapman's early foul trouble wasn't a factor in the Hoosiers' loss. Cooper was a handful, even when she was forced to make tough shots, and Chapman had problems even when she wasn't fouling.\n"She was struggling already," Bennett said of Chapman. "We came out flat, and against Purdue you can't come out flat."\nBut Cooper stopped the Hoosiers (16-8, 7-6 Big Ten) through scoring and defense. With 15 minutes left in the second half, Cooper and Shalicia Hurns double-teamed Chapman, who traveled. Chapman managed to score her first field goal with Cooper on the bench with 11 minutes left in the second half.\nCooper pulled the Boilermakers within two points at 8-6 in the first half after shooting over junior forward Erin McGinnism. In the next sequence, Cooper smacked the ball from charging junior Heather Cassady for one of two blocks in the first half. Cooper then tore down a rebound in front of senior guard Rainey Alting at the other end of the court.\n"She's great," Hurns said of Cooper. "She's probably one of the top centers in the country in women's basketball, and she plays great, especially in big games. Against Ruth Riley (of Notre Dame), Jill Chapman, she played great."\nCooper also hit 6-of-9 field goals and 3-of-4 free throws in 15 minutes of the first half. Chapman, on the other hand, was 0-of-2 from the field and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line in seven minutes of action.\nIn the second half, with Chapman back in the game, Cooper scored on a layup after only 30 seconds. Cooper won the boxing-out battle, as she scored off a Hurns' miss at 14:34. Cooper had 21 points with 14:30 minutes to go, as Chapman went back to the bench with three fouls.\n"I just really credit my teammates for looking for me," Cooper said. "They looked for me early, and we went out and just tried to tuck inside first"