Women fail to upset rival

IU had its hand on the gun, ready to pick off a top-10 team.\nBut unlike the men's basketball team, which upset No. 1 Michigan State just hours earlier, the women's squad couldn't pull the trigger.\nThere was no last-minute comeback for the women in the battle for first place in the conference Sunday, as IU fell to No. 6 Purdue 67-59.\nThe Hoosiers appeared to be on the road to an upset in the second half. IU came back from 22 points down to draw within four of the Boilermakers with less than five minutes left. Purdue managed to pull away in the final minutes.\nThe Boilermakers took control of the game early in the first half. Two minutes into the game, both teams were scoreless, but combined for six turnovers, setting the pace for a first half that was littered with turnovers, missed shots and fouls.\nThe Hoosiers scored first off a lay-up by Big Ten Player of the Week Jill Chapman. That was the junior center's lone score in the first half. Chapman had an uncharacteristic single rebound and only eight minutes of playing time in the first half.\n"(Chapman) got into foul trouble early," coach Kathi Bennett said. "We rotated with (sophomore center) Erika (Christenson), but their pressure affected us."\nThe score remained 2-0 until Purdue scored on a lay-up from All-American Katie Douglas. The Hoosiers scored only once more before the Boilermakers went on a 6-0 run and increased their lead to 10.\nPurdue didn't let the Hoosiers decrease the deficit, but continued to push the lead on scoring runs of its own. Douglas, who suffered a concussion two days earlier, led the Boilermakers in the first half with 11 points.\nPurdue came out firing in the second half. Freshman forward Shalicia Hurns, filling in for Mary Jo Noon who sustained a season-ending knee injury last week led the Boilermakers on a run to increase the lead to 22 points just four minutes into the second half. Hurns ended with 19 points and eight rebounds on 8-for-9 shooting from the floor.\n"We continue to need to step up," Purdue coach Kristy Curry said. "Hurns really did that for us."\nBut the Hoosier defense held the Boilers at 45 and IU went on a scoring binge of its own. After a pair of free throws and another IU score, Purdue answered each of the Hoosiers' next two buckets.\nIt wasn't until five minutes left in the game that it appeared IU had an upset on its hands. Purdue turnovers enabled the Hoosiers to get back into the contest.\n"We've got to do a lot better job of maintaining leads," Douglas said. "But we did a good job of staying together as a team."\nBut IU couldn't mount a charge, and just as in the first half, the Boilermakers were able to take advantage of Hoosier mistakes.\n"It was a tough game," Bennett said. "Purdue took us out of what we wanted to do offensively, and just bothered the heck out of us"