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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 25, Issue 5

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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 5 65 ward Dominique McBryde and guards Tiara Murphy and Lamina Cooper, the latter of whom is re- covering from an ACL, will factor in heavily to Purdue's rotation next season, perhaps even as starters. "I think there's going to be more competition at each spot," Versyp said of her 2015-16 roster. "You will have depth — you're still going to have injuries — but you need to change the culture of toughness and playing for each other, push- ing against the wall. If we say run through the wall once, you want to run through it five times. And get your mind in a great place. It's just natural when you lose, it's hard for anybody. If you have something go- ing on in your world, or family, and it keeps going that way, hope isn't coming. It's draining. "So we have to get really re- freshed, and when you have 14 bodies, you have different person- nel, so our system will change. You have more threats from the outside. This year we had it on the inside and we didn't shoot well. Next year we'll shoot well and we'll have more pieces to the puzzle. It doesn't mat- ter if you're a freshman or walk-on, there's more pieces. But this is all about physical, mental toughness, just be the best-shaped team. Be- cause when you're not tired, you're going to make shots. When you're stronger, you're not going to miss layups that are wide-open. There are a lot of things that go with that. So we've got to get back to what we've done for eight years in a row." And Purdue must stay healthy, or at least try to. Versyp lamented the Boilermakers' injury situation last season, because she was rarely able to have all her personnel available at the same time. The injuries largely weren't season-ending — only Bod- nar, with a bad foot, missed the en- tire year — making it a near con- stant lineup shuffle, she says. Purdue had three players who missed at least parts of the season, most notably Perry's seven-game absence, due to an ankle sprain, but also Wilson (ribs, concussion), who was out two games; and Torrie Thornton (foot, seven games). Keys was also banged up at times, and although she didn't miss a game, she had to have her knee scoped after the season. "We could never coach the way we needed to coach," Versyp said. "We couldn't do some of the disci- pline things, making it tougher for kids. Because when you have four kids who cannot run for any type of punishment, and you're wearing out your three freshmen … Keys did ev- ery single rep, more than any play- er on our team, and she's a fresh- man. When you can't do some of the things that we've normally done, it's going to adjust and change the cul- ture." Purdue's going to shoot, too, and shoot often. Fixing the offense is an offseason priority after the Boil- ermakers finished second-to-last in scoring in the Big Ten last year, averaging only 63.2 points per game (seven teams averaged at least 69.9), and their .392 shooting per- centage was last. Versyp's charge: Each Boilermak- er is to take 48,000 jumpers and 10,000 free throws this summer. "It's huge," Wilson said, "just so we'll go into the season with confi- dence. It's about repetition, seeing the ball go through and knowing we can make the shots." Meanwhile, Versyp is active- ly looking for other help. In April, during the spring game weekend, Purdue hosted former Colorado for- ward Arielle Roberson, an imme- diately eligible graduate transfer. Roberson, who missed last season with a knee injury but was the Pac 12 Freshman-of-the-Year in 2012- 13, is also believed to be looking at Louisville and West Virginia. Purdue could also add a J.C. guard or two, in an effort to at least bolster the depth in the backcourt. It's all in an attempt to get the Boilermakers back to where they feel they belong. "I wouldn't say we're at a cross- road," Versyp said. "We've just got to get it done. We've been here nine years and this is the only bad sea- son. Everyone has had a bad sea- son. Look around. Now I would be even more upset — it's not an ex- cuse — that if Torrie was healthy, April was healthy 100 percent, Per- ry was healthy and we still had this, then maybe. "… When you struggle, some- times it's the culture, sometimes it's the group that wasn't a good fit. Who knows? But all of us know what our goal is, the end game (Big Ten championships, NCAA Tournaments). But if the kids feel pressure, I feel pressure, ev- erybody feels pressure, you're go- ing to get worse. So I don't feel we're at a crossroads. I think we hit a bump and we're going to be young and we'll start going like this (angled up) but it will take a year or two." j

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