Florida State head coach Sue Semrau called it “a tale of two halves.”
The Seminoles outlasted Purdue 67-64 tonight in overtime at Mackey Arena.
The Boilers got out to a slow start offensively in the first half, shooting just 29-percent from the floor. They also gave up 11 second-chance points and got none themselves.
Purdue trailed by as much as 13 points early in the second half, but tightened up the defense, forcing Florida State turnovers and then scoring in transition.
The Boilers took the lead for the first time with roughly six minutes left in regulation when a Hayden Hamby layup put them ahead of the Seminoles 50-49.
The two teams essentially traded baskets for the rest of the second half, with two three-pointers in the final 38 seconds knotting the game up at 55 and sending it into overtime.
Purdue led 62-57 with 2:32 remaining in overtime, but wasn’t able to contain Florida State.
A jumper by the Seminoles with 22.8 seconds left gave them the 67-64 win.
Senior forward Liza Clemons says this is a tough loss to swallow.
“It hurts because we fought so hard and then when you don’t get the end result that you wanted, we just have to come out Friday in practice and we have to push ourselves to get better,” says Clemons. “We can’t go back downhill.”
The Boilermakers played without senior forward Whitney Bays in overtime after she suffered an injury in a collision with a Florida State player at the end of regulation.
Head Coach Sharon Versyp wasn’t certain of the extent of the injury, but says it’s possible Bays will not be available to play in Sunday’s game at Dayton.
“It was a huge collision,” says Versyp. “[Bays] was setting a screen and number 12 plowed right over her. So I think her or head got hit. Her whole body got messed up but, I mean, she’s got a bad back anyway. She got her bell rung real hard.”
With the loss, Purdue falls to 3-3 on the season.
