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ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 3 37 f and ending the season on a solid streak, averaging 7.2 points on 61-percent shooting in her last five outings. But there were dry spells too, like two separate sets of two consecutive games in which she was scoreless. "When you come to college, all of your weaknesses are amplified to a huge degree," said Perry, who was a standout at Roncalli before coming to Purdue. "You don't realize your weaknesses nearly as much in high school just because you're faster, bigger and stronger than everybody else. "In college, that's not the case. You have to rely on different things. I wasn't able to drive to the hole every single time, I wasn't able to shoot." Perry's using that analytical mind now to try to break down defenses. She tries to see the angles, such as those on the breaks she takes off screens. Watching vid- eo back of a year ago, she noticed that she was too wide while taking a curl around a screen, costing her critical seconds when she could have been breaking away from a defender. "In college, it's not just about the physical game," Perry said. "You do have some extremely gifted athletes, but for most players everyone is athletic so you need to be able to read the defense and be smarter and un- derstand the game to be at a higher level at the college level." It's about being a well-rounded player, as well. Perry can score, being a big guard who can draw defenders out to the three-point line, where she hit better than 40 percent last season and made four of 10 during the non-conference slate this. But her rebounding and de- fense are continuing to develop; in early December, she put together solid games on the glass, nabbing 12 in two outings after having only 13 in the previous first six games. And against Denver in mid-December, she had a career day, scoring 17 points with nine rebounds. "When she crashes, that's one of the best things that she does," Coach Sharon Versyp said. "That's a blue-col- lar worker; if you're going to crash the boards when you're a guard and going to get those putbacks, that's the best thing you can do for your team. "We need to have that continue to elevate. Her de- fense has improved and we need it to continue to im- prove." Perry will keep vying for success on the court and off. Her biomedical engineering degree could lead to med- ical school or perhaps business opportunities — she's undecided — but either way is likely a good option. It's one of the reasons why Perry chose to play bas- ketball at Purdue, because it afforded her not only an athletic opportunity, but also academic pursuits. It's not that way everywhere, she thinks. As a high school student being recruited, Perry says she could tell when programs were reluctant to allow their athletes to take on the most difficult majors. She didn't find that at Purdue. "One of the biggest things that attracted me to Pur- due was that the coaches wanted well-rounded young women; they didn't want just a bunch of basketball play- ers," Perry said. "They wanted people that would repre- sent the university and take academics seriously. Sadly, one day basketball will be over and we need to be able to do something else and find a passion other than just basketball, and I like that they recognized that and want their athletes to challenge themselves academically." Perry isn't the first to do so at Purdue, and won't be the last. Players like Lauren Mioton (biology), Drey Min- go (biology), Samantha Woods (chemical engineering), Chelsea Jones (biology), Brittany Rayburn (pre-veteri- nary) and others have taken on difficult academic chal- lenges, while balancing basketball, as well. "I think at the end of the day, it's about these kids' ed- ucation," Versyp said. "My entire career, not just here at Purdue, I've had engineers and kids who want to be doc- tors. They're going to have different classes and labs. They should be able to do those things." j 1241 Cumberland Ave, Suite B West Lafayette, IN 47906 Phone: 765-497-0197 www.bankerinvestmentgroup.com Bill Banker, President Purdue University Alumni 85' Purdue Baseball Alumni 81'-85' A Fee-Based Investment Advisor located in the Purdue Research Park 25+ Years of Investment Management Experience