Gold and Black is a multi-platform media company that covers Purdue athletics like no one else.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/923294
GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 3 72 Karissa McLaughlin 1 5-7 • G • Fr. Breakdown: No statistic better captures McLaughlin's up-and-down start than turn- overs. In the first three games of December, she totaled only four, but then she had back- to-back games of seven each. She followed that by having zero in two of the next three, but committed six in the game between. Yet, Purdue wants her to work through the problems, because the upside — she's the Boilermakers' fifth-leading scorer, averaging 9.3 points per game on 39-percent three-point shooting still shines through. 11 Dominique Oden 5-8 • G • So. Breakdown: Oden start- ed the season slowly, but picked up the pace in Decem- ber, hitting double figures in six of the last seven games of the year. There's a direct correlation between Oden's scoring and Purdue's success: The Boilermakers had lost the last five games the sophomore scored in single-digits. Only once in double figures, when she had 17 vs. Ohio, did Pur- due lose. She's the Boilermakers' more consistent perimeter shooter, hitting at nearly 40 percent, and a critical player to forcing opposing zone defenses out of the lane. Lamina Cooper 40 5-9 • G • So. Breakdown: A starter in her second season, the wing is an impact player on the de- fensive end, where she's fre- quently been able to turn her steals — she had 36 through the first 16 games — into transition points. For a team that struggles to score in the halfcourt, those easy buckets can be huge. Cooper is averaging 10.3 points per game, mostly by get- ting them on the break or by driving hard to the basket. But defenses are sagging off her in the halfcourt, hoping she won't be able to hurt them from the perimeter. Andreona Keys 10 5-10 • G • Sr. Breakdown: Purdue's senior captain has done a little bit of everything this season, playing every posi- tion on the floor, sometimes within the same game. She's starting as an undersized power forward, and averag- ing a team-high 12.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, but has also shifted over to starting point when Mc- Laughlin struggled. Rare is the player who can do both effectively. But Keys' versatility, par- ticularly considering Purdue's limited bench, has made her MVP. Ae'Rianna Harris 32 6-1 • F • So. Breakdown: Harris has been hugely impactful this season, second on the team in scoring (12.5), first in re- bounds (8.8) and first in blocks (with 54 through the first 16 games). The rebounding and rejections haven't been a sur- prise — she did those things as a freshman, too — but her expanding offensive game has been beneficial. Already this season, she's had five games in which she's scored at least 15 points. Against UT Martin Dec. 20, she had 20 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. Boilermaker Lineup