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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 2 78 you should be afraid," Keys said. "I know that if I'm out there playing, we have a chance of winning. There's no, 'Oh my gosh, we're just going to flat-out lose.' I've always carried that with me on any team that I've played on and just tried to put that into oth- ers who I play with as well." At Purdue, Keys will do so as one of only two upperclassmen on scholar- ship. She's the lone senior, after the rest of her recruiting class — Haley Bodnar, Erica Moore, Justine Hall and Bree Horrocks — opted to transfer over the last three years. Being the only senior with 10 underclassmen, teammates seemed a bit daunting at first, but Keys realized she'd been preparing for such a task. "At first, it was kind of like, 'Oh, my gosh, I'm the only senior, really?' But I've been talking to my mom and Coach V about it, and people don't get this opportunity," she said. "This is a great opportunity for me to go out how I want to and bring the team along with me. It's an awesome op- portunity and I'm so happy that it's worked out how it did and I'm the one still here." Keys, a captain last season with then-seniors Ashley Morrissette and Bridget Perry, took over as the main voice early in the offseason. It was then that she told the Boilermak- ers she expected to get back to the Big Ten Tournament championship game, where Purdue had lost to Mary- land in March, and win it this season. And the work toward that, Keys said, started at that moment. There'd be no waiting around, as there had been the previous season, when Purdue shuffled for two months before rally- ing to get to the postseason in the last couple weeks. "She's started it from the get-go," McLaughlin said. "When the fresh- men got here in the summer, she came out and told us what her expec- tations were, what our team expec- tations are, and we tried to buy into them as soon as possible. We want to make sure she has a great senior sea- son that she deserves. She's a great leader, coming in as a freshman, to really look up to and learn a lot from." 'Junkyard Dog' A couple years ago, Indiana coach Teri Moren called Keys a "junkyard dog," describing her as a player who is willing to do whatever is necessary to help her team win. Maybe that's defending and re- bounding, maybe it's getting deflec- tions or drawing charges. Maybe it's getting a key putback and three-point play at an opportune time. Keys accepts the moniker, even if it does have a bit of an unsavory tone. Perhaps calling her a "glue" player sounds better, and it's just as accu- rate. Keys' willingness to do whatever is needed has bound the Boilermak- ers for years. "That's something that comes nat- ural," she said. "It's not like I intend- ed to come in here and be the glue to the team. It's something where I know I can do this in this category and this and that. I've been good at a couple different things and I can be that mold to the team, that calming factor, and not get too rowdy and have poise. "Coach V has always liked that about me. I do enjoy being that and I have been the past three years. I don't know what the team will need from me this year, it'll be a lot of different things obviously. I've embraced that role." Keys can do a bit of everything. Last season, the 5-foot-11 wing had career-best totals of 212 rebounds and 119 assists, becoming only the fifth Boilermaker ever to notch a 200/100 season. She also scored 342 points — she's 211 shy of 1,000 for her career, making it likely she'll pass the milestone in February — and 47 steals. The versatility has been huge for Purdue. In any given game, she has the ability to fill in what Purdue is otherwise lacking. Keys had a team-high five dou- ble-doubles last season, including a 15-point, 10-rebound, six-assist out- ing in a comeback win over Iowa. She had a nine-assist performance vs. Eastern Michigan and collected 11 rebounds in a win over USC Upstate. She had an 18-point, five-steal day in a win at Wisconsin, when she hit a career-best three three-pointers. She had the putback winner with a tenth of a second left in a senior day win State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company State Farm Indemnity Company Bloomington, IL State Farm County Mutual Insurance Company of Texas Dallas, TX 1606043 Good day, bad day or any day – I'm here for you in all life's moments, backed by the #1* insurance company for auto, home and life. CALL ME TODAY. For every "oh no," there's an "oh yeah." *Based on written premium as reported by SNL Financial 2014. Trent B Johnson, Agent 249 E State Street West Lafayette, IN 47906 Bus: 765-743-9595 trentismyagent.com