Purdue topples Georgia
DALLAS – Maybe Purdue star Katie Gearlds can keep doing her best imitation of Peyton Manning, the home-state quarterback who is finally recognized as a champion.
After helping the Boilermakers get within one victory of the NCAA Final Four with a 78-65 regional semifinal victory over Georgia, Gearlds insisted that the ongoing success wasn’t about settling any personal issues.
“I am going to quote what Peyton Manning said and say that I am not going to get into that subject right now,” Gearlds said. “I don’t have a monkey on my back. It is all about this team and we have worked so hard.”
Not wanting her career to end yet, Gearlds had 30 points, nine rebounds and helped Purdue (31-5) overcome a big early deficit Sunday night to earn a spot in the Dallas Regional final.
Purdue won its 10th straight game, all since Gearlds had impromptu meetings with her teammates and first-year coach Sharon Versyp, who in the mid-1980s was a four-year starter at the school.
Georgia (27-7) was in the round of 16 for the fifth straight season, but it was the fourth time in that stretch the Lady Bulldogs didn’t advance past that.
The Bulldogs missed becoming the fourth Southeastern Conference team to get into a regional final this season – even after scoring the game’s first eight points and jumping out to a 23-10 lead midway through the first half.
Gearlds had the final points in Purdue’s 14-4 run to end the opening half, with a 3-pointer and a free throw. But her missed free throw with 41 seconds left kept the Boilermakers from getting even before the break.
She more than made up for that miss.
Gearlds scored 18 points after halftime, when her first basket was a long jumper she made despite having the arms of a defender wrapped around her waist while she was in the air. She added the free throw.
Purdue’s first lead came when Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton opened the second half with a short jumper. Gearlds’ three-point play followed and Georgia never caught up.
Tasha Humphrey had 20 points to lead Georgia.