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w o m e n ' s b a s k e t b a l l f e a t u r e : c o u r t n e y m o s e s 'A Little (Punk)' Moses terrorizes teams in multiple ways BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com S ue Guevara has a way with words. Earlier this season, the Central Michigan coach called Courtney Moses "a little (punk)," although the noun in the phrase was a bit more colorful. It was meant as a compliment, and is; Moses can be a terror on the court, with a shooting acumen that will likely leave her as one of Purdue's best-ever from long range, and also an uncanny ability, at only 5-foot-6, to drive, twist and score in the lane. "My grandma uses that phrase a lot," Moses said, laughing. "It's definitely a good compliment to have." Moses, a junior guard, prides herself on being a pain, and works hard to make sure her game is in top shape to be able to be so. It's been that way for years. Almost as soon as she could walk, she had a ball in her hands. By 4, she was dribbling up and down her neighborhood street in tiny Sweetser, Ind., just west of Marion. Even then, she could make shots on a 10-foot rim. Later that year, she was invited to a weekly skills camp, designed mainly for kids a few years older than her, at a Marion middle school, and was scared to show up because she'd be the littlest one there. But she did, and a love for the game was born. The game occupied much of her upbringing. In the basement of the Moses' household, there was a plastic basketball hoop, which provided a place to play when the weather turned too cold to shoot outside. It's home to some of the most epic brother-sister basketball battles in IndiTom Campbell ana history. It was a bit of a surprise when Courtney Moses was a preseason All-Big Ten selection, but she's proven it was deserving with An overstatement? Perhaps. But when her play through the first third of the season. Courtney Moses and brother Corbett, three years her senior, took the basement floor, wasn't very welcoming to that. There was like a buck- standing prep career. rules were often only loosely followed. "The reason I played basketball is because he et of balls in the corner and she gave me a nice little Once when the two were left home alone — by push and I fell into the bucket of balls right into the played," said Courtney Moses, who was Indiana Miss then, Corbett was old enough to watch over them — wall. There was butts prints right there in the drywall." Basketball following her four years at Oak Hill. "We're the game turned even more physical than usual. As And you thought Purdue basketball could be rugged. really, really close, so anything that Corbett did, I Corbett was going up for a layup, Courtney was there, wanted to do. … He's really tall and very, very strongly But Courtney had to play that way to compete. delivering a nice, hard, intentional shove. Corbett was much bigger, growing to 6-6 by the built. So I would play against him all the time; I would "It was her 'refuse to lose' mentally," Corbett said. time he was a senior at Oak Hill High School, where get beat all the time, but I'd keep going at him and end "I'm pretty sure she probably was getting beat and she Courtney was then a freshman on the cusp of her out- up crying, throwing the ball at him and going inside." 54 • Gold & Black IllustrateD • volume 23, issue 3 GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com