Bluder's Bunch Rolls Past Purdue

Feb. 17, 2013

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue Boilermakers playing inside Mackey Arena hasn’t been a very good combination for Lisa Bluder’s University of Iowa women’s basketball team. 12 times in a row the Boilers have taken it to Bluder’s Bunch inside their own gym; Iowa’s last victory at Purdue was more than 15 years ago.

The good times for the nationally ranked Boilermakers ended on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013.

The Hawkeyes, undoubtedly more aware of the five-game losing streak they carried onto Keady Court than the decades-old string of losses in western Indiana, took it to the home team time and time again en route to a 72-52 victory, a win that snapped that five-game losing streak and, perhaps, put the Hawkeyes back firmly on the track that leads to the NCAA’s post-season party. It was, after all, the UI’s seventh win over a nationally ranked squad in 2012-13 and their second of the year over the Boilermakers.

The win pushed Iowa to 17-10 overall and 6-7 in Big Ten Conference play. Purdue dropped to 19-6 and 8-4.

Iowa was led in scoring by Samantha Logic. The sophomore guard scored a career-high 26 points on 10 of 13 shooting from the field. She also sank four of five free throw attempts and was credited with nine assists. Theairra Taylor chipped in 15 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Morgan Johnson and Melissa Dixon also scored in double-digits with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Iowa shot 50 percent field the field for the game while limiting the Boilermakers to just 31 percent success. Half of the Hawkeyes’ points were scored from in the paint and many of those were successful drives to the rim.

The Hawkeyes also took full advantage from the charity stripe, knocking down 13 of their 15 free throw attempts.


1st 2nd Final
Iowa (17-10, 6-7) 32 40 72
#18 Purdue (19-6, 8-4)
27 25 52
? Box Score | Attendance: 9, 532
Statistical Leaders
? Samantha Logic – 26 points, 9 rebounds, 10-13 FG
? Theairra Taylor – 15 points, 11 rebounds, 7-13 FG
? Morgan Johnson – 12 points, 4 assists, 4-7 FG
Stats at a Glance
IOWA PUR
FG Percentage 50.0 31.9
3-Point FG Percentage 31.3 25.0
FT Percentage 86.7 42.9
Total Rebounds 33 39
Points in the Paint 36 24
Points off Turnovers 15 6

The first half was a boxing match with each team trading punches. The lead changed hands five times before back-to-back three-pointers by Logic and Taylor put the visiting team ahead 24-20. The margin reached seven at 30-23 when Logic sank a layup with 2:10 left to play.

Iowa took a 32-27 lead into intermission thanks to 13 points from Logic and another 11 from Taylor. The Hawkeyes shot a blistering 51 percent from the field, a mark boosted by 18 points from the paint. The visitors also forced eight Boilermaker turnovers and blocked six shots.

The Hawkeyes jumped on the Boilermakers at the start of the second stanza, taking the 5-point halftime team and pushing it to 11 when Logic raced through an open lane for a layup and a 43-32 Iowa lead. That bucket capped a 6-0 mini run by the visiting team and forced Purdue to call a timeout.

Purdue twice cut the margin to six, the second time coming when the Boilermakers’ Sam Ostrarello sank a layup at 8:05 to make the score 52-46. However, Iowa responded with another layup by Taylor and a three-point bucket by Melissa Dixon to push the lead back to 11 with a little more than six minutes to play. Dixon hit another three-pointer a little more than two minutes later off a nifty feed from Jaime Printy to boost the margin to 12 at 62-50.

Pairs of free throws by Morgan Johnson and Printy stretched the lead to 66-50 with two minutes left to play and sent a good chunk of the crowd of 9,543 to the exits.

Iowa is idle until next Sunday when the Hawkeyes travel to Lincoln, Neb., for a date with Nebraska. Tipoff is set for shortly after 2 p.m. CT. The Hawkeyes’ next home game is their last of the 2012-13 regular season: Thursday, Nov. 28, against Indiana. Bluder’s Bunch closes the book on the regular season with a road game against Northwestern on Mar. 3.