78 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED
Morrissette said. "I need to keep my feet moving while
awaiting the pass instead of moving and then standing
there waiting for the pass. I also need to make sure I am on
my toes and giving my shot a better arc."
As Morrissette has gone, so too has Purdue. For exam-
ple, look at a stretch in late February to early January of last
season, when Morrissette hit only 14-of-43 shots. Purdue
managed to overcome the slump in the first game, win-
ning in overtime at Penn State, but couldn't the last two,
and that was a start of a five-game losing streak. In the last
loss, Morrissette hit only three of her 17 shots vs. Iowa. The
long-range shot was flat, the mid-range shots were clank-
ing and she was missing layups too, and Purdue stood no
chance.
"Oh yeah, I remember that one: 3-for-17," she said.
"That was horrible."
But when Morrissette recovered shortly thereafter,
so did Purdue, making its final push to get off the bub-
ble and into the NCAA Tournament. In the last three
regular-season games plus the first game of the Big
Ten Tournament, Morrissette was 31-of-61, including
nine three-pointers. And Purdue won all four.
It's a sign of the kind of hot stretch Morrissette can go
on, but a sign of her streakiness, as well.
"Being efficient is definitely the goal because the ball is
going to be in my hands more often," she said. "I feel that
as I have gotten older, the ball has been in my hands more
and more. If you're shooting the ball a lot and not being ef-
ficient with it, then why would the ball find you? So I need
the team to trust that I'll be more efficient and consistent
if I am going to get the ball more often."
Now, Morrissette thinks she's on the verge of her best
season in her last season. And it's because of the work
she's put in on the court, but also the work off, in trying
to do all those things that she never wanted to in the past.
"The freshman and sophomore years were really, really
tough," Versyp said. "I thought she grew quite a bit her
junior year, but she hung in there. … She knew she need-
ed to get better with things, and sometimes that happens
more quickly than other times, but she's always been a bat-
tler, a basketball player.
"… It's nice to see kids grow, that's why we're in this
anyway — and our desire to win championships — but
to see her growth makes me so happy and heart-filled, be-
cause she's a talent. She's a talent."
j
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