Hoosiers have yet to rebound

The IU women's basketball game had all the makings for a down-to-the-wire finish. IU hosted in-state rival No. 11 Purdue Thursday night in a back and forth battle.\nWith the Hoosiers trailing 53-57 and 33 seconds on the clock, IU head coach Kathi Bennett called a timeout to diagram a play. The play set up senior forward Erin McGinnis for a three-point shot that would have brought the Hoosiers within one. But Purdue guard Kelly Komara spoiled the play when she blocked McGinnis' shot with 27 seconds left.\nThe ball eventually ended up in the hands of Boilermaker guard Erika Valek who was fouled and sank two free throws for the win.\nPurdue (14-3, 5-2 Big Ten) added two more free throws to make the final score 61-53 in favor of the Boilermakers. The loss was IU's fourth consecutive defeat. IU (8-9, 2-4 Big Ten) is 0-4 against top-25 opponents this year.\nKomara thought the win came from the Boilermakers heart and pride want to win.\n"It's all about pride," Komara said. "We beat Notre Dame, so we had to beat IU to be considered the best team in Indiana. We took it upon ourselves to come out and really play with our hearts. A game like this isn't about stats or the crowd, it's about playing with heart and I think both teams really did that today."\nBut while the Boilermakers were earning state bragging rights, the Hoosiers were trying to figure out what it is going to take to win.\nBennett said the Hoosiers need to learn how to pull out close games.\n"We believe in what we are doing," she said. "I feel that defensively we are playing very good basketball, and we are getting pretty decent looks (at the basket)."\nBut although IU has fallen into a slump, Bennett and her team doesn't believe they will be unable to come back from the recent setbacks.\n"I think we are knocking on the door and we are competing hard," Bennett said. "I think we are close, but we have to keep that belief."\nThe first half was nip-and-tuck as both teams grabbed for every ball and strained to score, because neither team had more than a six-point lead. \nThe second half registered more excitement in the scoring column.\nPurdue led 25-22 at the half and scored the first eight points at the start of the second to build the biggest lead of the game at 33-22. Valek had four of the points on a jumper and two free throws, while Mary Jo Noon and Laura Meadows each had two points in the run.\nPurdue coach Kristy Curry thought the start of the second half was key to the Boilermakers win.\n"I thought the first six minutes of the second half was the difference," Curry said. "It gave us the confidence to withstand some things throughout the rest of the second half"