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Takeaways: Big Ten tournament quarterfinals

By Blake DuDonis

COLLEGE PARK, MD - FEBRUARY 21: Scorer of the winning basket Maryland Terrapins guard Kaila Charles (5) with center Olivia Owens (35) and guard Taylor Mikesell (11) at the end of a women's college basketball game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Minnesota Golden Gophers, on February 21, 2019, at Xfinity Center, in College Park, Maryland.(Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MD - FEBRUARY 21: Scorer of the winning basket Maryland Terrapins guard Kaila Charles (5) with center Olivia Owens (35) and guard Taylor Mikesell (11) at the end of a women's college basketball game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Minnesota Golden Gophers, on February 21, 2019, at Xfinity Center, in College Park, Maryland.(Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 10: Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Zipporah Broughton (1) during the Womens College Basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Maryland Terrapins on February 10, 2019 at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 10: Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Zipporah Broughton (1) during the Womens College Basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Maryland Terrapins on February 10, 2019 at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

#3 Rutgers 64, #11 Purdue 49

Maybe they are motivated to play for their ailing coach C. Vivian Stringer, or maybe they want to live up to the top 15 ranking they achieved earlier this season. What it is, one thing is for sure: Rutgers is playing some of it’s best basketball of the season right now.

“I thought they played with a lot of toughness and I thought they played with a lot of sense of urgency that we came here to get something done,” said Rutger’s acting head coach Tim Eatman, whose team will now make their first-ever appearance in the B1G tournament semifinals. “We knew that they (Purdue) were going to hit the boards extremely hard. I think in the first half they out-rebounded us, but I thought in the second half we dug in and we got to our match-ups and our 55 in. We’re just excited about the opportunity tomorrow.”

Though they only forced 15 turnovers, the Scarlet Knights got out and ran whenever they could and outscored Purdue in transition 20-9. Stasha Carey led the way with 17 points and Arella Guirantes chipped in 15. Much of their offense came in part due to their famed “55 defense”, a full court, player-to-player pressure D that intends to wear down their opponent.

“We want to get into the 55, and so we want to put pressure on the basketball, we want to get to our match-ups and we want a defensive rebound every possession,” said Eatman. ”

With an 8-10 conference record, Purdue was just a few points away in a few games in being as high as a 5-seed. As it was though, they did well to win two games in the tournament before falling short against Rutgers.

” I was just really proud of our kids this week, just really had a clean slate, came in, regrouped, really had a great postseason run, and it was nice to — they just had a different sense about them, togetherness, energy, communication,” remarked Purdue head coach Sharon Versyp.

Ae’Rianna Harris had 10 points and nine rebounds, plus added three more blocks to her career mark, the first of which put her alone atop the Purdue record books in that category. When asked about her season personally and what needed to be done moving forward, Harris was to the point.

“I mean, my year is because of the team. I can’t score points if they don’t give me the ball. Defense comes to all of us, but I’ve said it before, it’s a decision you make,” she said. “I feel like I made that decision, my team has made that decision. So just moving forward, taking that next step, going harder, getting in the gym, little stuff.”

Purdue’s record stands at 19-15 and will wait to see if they get a WNIT invitation. Rutgers moves to 22-8 and will play Iowa.

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