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volume 23, EX 25 • March 11, 2013 Inside | Women win title 6-9 | Men finish strong 16-17 Football notes 28-30 | Recruiting notebook 31-32 boilers bounce back big BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com they suit up for the conference tournament. The champiHOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — onship was Purdue's It's amazing how fortunes can second in a row and turn in the span of a week. ninth in the 19-year At the end of February, Purhistory of the event. due's season had turned sour, And it might have with losses in five of its seven been one of its most games during the month, dropemphatic. The Boilerping it from hunting for a Big Ten makers, who needed title to meandering waywardly. a last-second shot to But in eight days in March, beat Penn State in the February malaise became a the semis last season distant memory; the Boilermakthen were forced to ers won on senior day in the double overtime to regular-season finale March 3, take down Nebraska showing signs of breaking out in the finals, won of their slumber. Then a week each of their three later, they proved that was so, Tom Campbell games this year by hoisting the Big Ten Tourna- Purdue continued its absolute dominance of the Big Ten Tournament by winning its ninth tournament double digits. ment trophy at the Sears Cen- title in the event's 19-year existence and fourth in Sharon Versyp's seven seasons as coach. First, they raltre after winning three games lied early in the secgames, but maybe we got complacent or in three days. ond half to beat upstart Wisconsin, then "February was kind of a gut check for something. … We got kicked off our high played one of their best all-around games horse, you might say, but it went back to us," forward Sam Ostarello said after thirdof the season in dismantling Nebraska. In seeded Purdue's 62-47 win over fourth- execution and doing the little things." That seems to always be the case for the championship, they blitzed the Sparseed Michigan State in the title game Suntans early before hanging on late. day. "We had been winning quite a few the Boilermakers come early March, when THE Numbers 64-26 The Purdue women's team's all-time record on neutral courts in the month of March, a reason why the Boilermakers have a sterling record in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments over the years. Turnovers combined by the Boilermakers in their first two Big Ten Tournament games, paving the way for a Purdue run to another conference title. The Purdue men's team record all-time as the No . 7 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, with losses to No. 10 Michigan in 1999 and Minnesota in 2004. Consecutive senior day victories for the Purdue men's team, most in the Big Ten. 20 0-2 4 As it turns out, the location of the tournament might not matter as much as some people think. The Big Ten moved the tourney out of Indianapolis, where Purdue had won its first eight titles, this March for the first time in years. That probably pleased the Boilers' rivals, but even at Hoffman Estates, a western suburb of Chicago, Purdue had a decided advantage in fan support, particularly for the title game. The Boilers felt at home. At their first shoot-around early Friday morning, Coach Sharon Versyp took her players to center court, and noted that the floor was GoldanDBlack express • volume 23, express 25 • 1