Hoosiers unable to defeat Boilers, former coach Versyp

WEST LAFAYETTE -- In its first shot against its former coach, the IU women's basketball team came up on the short end. \nComing in with new coach Felisha Legette-Jack, the Hoosiers dropped a 73-51 game against No. 13 Purdue on Sunday in a match against former IU and current Boilermakers coach Sharon Versyp. Versyp, who coached the Hoosiers last season, left IU in April to take the head-coaching vacancy at her alma mater.\n"For us it's just like going out and playing against any other person," senior guard Nikki Smith said about playing her former coach. "We have a great coach here and it would be disrespectful to her on our part to go out there and think, 'Oh my God, we're playing against our old coach,' and have all those feelings brought in. It doesn't matter if we're playing against our best friend; we're going to go out there and we're going to want to win."\nThe Hoosiers started the game slowly, allowing the Boilermakers to jump out to an 8-2 lead. Early setbacks did not shake the Hoosiers' confidence. They were able to quickly recover and tie the game at 10 after a 3-point shot by senior guard Leah Enterline. \nBut the Hoosiers could not contain Purdue forward Katie Geralds, who scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the first half. It was the 11th straight game in which Geralds scored in double digits and her ninth 20-point performance of the season.\n"I think Geralds is one of the best players in the country," Legette-Jack said. "She has a poise about herself that even though her team seems rattled at times, she has a sense of calmness."\nEven though Purdue held the lead throughout the first half, IU was able to keep up, trailing 29-24 with a couple of minutes until halftime. But the Boilermakers went on a 4-0 run to end the half and took a 33-24 lead into the locker room.\nBoth teams had trouble shooting in the first half. The Boilermakers shot 33.3 percent from the field; the Hoosiers shot only 31.2 percent.\nIU's shooting woes continued into the second half and the Hoosiers finished the game shooting just 29.2 percent from the field.\n"I feel like we did get shots down the stretch," Enterline said. "Those are shots that didn't fall for us today, but we had them and we got to be able to knock them down."\nEarly in the second half IU looked to be making a run, narrowing Purdue's lead to 37-33. But from there Purdue started rolling, igniting a 16-4 run.\nVersyp walked away from her former team victorious. \n"It's not an easy situation, but it is what it is," Versyp said. "(IU) played very hard, but I love Purdue. Black and gold is what I bleed and these young women here at Purdue have embraced our whole staff. I'm very fortunate to be here and to have this opportunity."\nThe Hoosiers will get another shot at Versyp and Purdue on Sunday, when the Boilermakers travel to Assembly Hall for the second game of the season between the two teams.