GBI Express

The Authority on Purdue Athletics volume 22, EX 24 • march 5, 2012 In this issue: • Pages 1-3: Opening Tip • Pages 6-7: Featuring Robbie Hummel • Page 28: Recruiting Updates CHAMPIONS Inside The Rayburn, seniors get first title BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com INDIANAPOLIS — Brutal. That was the only way Brittany Rayburn could describe advancing to the Big Ten Tournament championship game only to lose a heartbreaker to Ohio State as a freshman. But it was that experience that made Sunday that much sweeter. It made Rayburn, Chelsea Jones, Alex Guyton and Samantha Woods, the now-seniors who were on that team, cherish every moment of Purdue's 74-70 doubleovertime victory over Nebraska in Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Especially the parts after Chantel Poston's free throw with 3.3 seconds left secured the championship. The latching onto teammates for hugs as soon as Lindsey Moore's three-pointer missed and the buzzer sounded. The screaming 'til lungs were empty. The quickly slipping on tournament champion T-shirts and snuggly pulling down hats that proclaimed the same. The standing on the makeshift stage to hear Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany declare them champions. The looking up to the rafters GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com Tom Campbell Brittany Rayburn averaged 17.3 points, four rebounds and 1.7 assists in three games to help Purdue to a Big Ten Tournament championship and earn Most Outstanding Player. to see streamers wisping through the air and confetti floating down to engulf them. The listening to thousands of Purdue fans in attendance shower them with screams. The blowing kisses in return. The climbing the ladder to snip memories from the net then slipping the strands around wrists like bracelets. The dancing in unison as the band serenaded them. The storming to the locker room afterward — for more screaming, more hugging, more crying and more picture-snapping, with the trophy, with each other, in front of the bracket with "Purdue" firmly affixed in the champion slot. And, finally, a breath. And some reflection. "It's huge for the senior class," Rayburn said. "I think it was meant for us. God put this on us because we just lost to Michigan State and we just lost to Penn State. We had a horrible, heartbreaking loss to Nebraska (all late in the regular season). It's fate. We came into this game knowing we had to stick together as a group, that we're the best team out there. "With this group, we just have a lot of heart. For us, it's just an amazing reward to get for this team." And the seniors were pivotal in fulfilling the goal. Jones had a nine-rebound performance to help Purdue control the glass against Penn State. Guyton made 8-of-13 shots in the three games, giving the Boilermakers a nice post presence on offense. Antionette Howard, a former transfer, produced a double-double (13 points, 13 boards) to provide a spark off the bench against the Nittany Lions. And Rayburn was, simply, special. She was the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after averaging 17.3 points, four rebounds and 1.7 assists. Her 29-point night that included seven three-pointers pushed Purdue past the Spartans in its opening game. Her game-winning basket — off a hard baseline drive and finish with contact — with 1.4 seconds left lifted the Boilermakers over the Nittany Lions. Numbers .500 112-86 82 Coach Sharon Versyp's "batting average" in the Big Ten Tournament. She has won three titles in six years. Purdue's alltime series advantage over Indiana despite being swept this year. There, you feel better? The Boilermakers' percentage of upper-division finishes in Big Ten men's basketball, dating back to 1967-68. Purdue has finished in the top half of the league six straight times under Coach Matt Painter. The number of last-minute gamewinning shots by Brittany Rayburn during her Boilermaker career: At Wisconsin in '09, at Gardner-Webb in '11 and none more important than the big one to beat No. 9 Penn State on Saturday. She also had two go-ahead free throws and blocked a shot at the buzzer vs. Iowa earlier this year. The times the men have made it to Saturday's semifinals in the previous 14 years of the Big Ten Tournament. Three have come under Painter. The number of times there has been a three-way tie in men's hoops in the Big Ten race since 1979, the year Purdue shared the crown with Michigan State and Iowa. 3 4 4 Her two free throws and assist in the first overtime helped Purdue Gold & Black IllustrateD • volume 22, express 24  •  1

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