Purdue Sports

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Led by two touchdowns apiece from quarterbacks Joey Elliott and Justin Siller, with the latter’s coming in the fourth quarter, the Gold team held on to defeat the Black team 28-14 in Saturday’s Black & Gold Game at Ross-Ade Stadium.

Dan Dierking’s 12-yard touchdown reception capped the Gold team’s 28-14 victory in Saturday’s Black & Gold game.

The game featured the first-string offense and the second-string defense (Black team) vs. the second-string offense and the first-string defense (Gold team).

“I thought we had a competitive game, which was our goal,” head coach Joe Tiller said. “Your No. 2 offense always is going to have the upper hand on your No. 2 defense because of the multiplicity of formations that you run.

“I didn’t like the way the No. 1 offense started, but I liked the way they came on after their slow start.”

After falling behind 14-0 on a 4-yard touchdown reception by Jeff Panfil in the second quarter, the Black team recovered late in the quarter with two quick touchdowns. The first came on a Jaycen Taylor 35-yard touchdown run with 4:49 left to go in the half. On the Gold team’s next possession, Siller was intercepted by Mike Conway, who then returned it 29 yards to the end zone to tie the score before the half.

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue women’s basketball senior, Kalika France has an opportunity to extend her playing career beyond the college level. France has signed a free agent training camp contract with the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.

Purdue senior Kalika France is headed to the Washington Mystics training camp.

France will report to Mystic’s training camp, beginning on April 20, where she will join her former Maryland teammate, Crystal Langhorne, who was selected in the first round by the Mystics in the WNBA Draft earlier this month.

France, a 5-foot-9 guard started all but one game for the Boilermakers this past season, averaging 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. France got hot at the end of the season, averaging 12.1 points over her final eight games, leading Purdue to a Big Ten Tournament Championship and a second-round birth in the NCAA Tournament. One of her best games of the season came in the first-round of the NCAA tournament against No. 17 Utah. France scored 17 points and knocked down a career-high eight field goals, leading Purdue to a 66-59 upset victory.

The Bladensburg, Md., native transferred to Purdue in Jan. 2007, after earning her bachelors degree in accounting from Maryland in just three and a half years. Having earned her undergraduate degree while only playing two seasons, France was eligible for the Boilermakers immediately due to an NCAA rule that has since been rescinded. At Maryland, France averaged 11.3 points and 5.4 rebounds and was named to the 2004 ACC All-Freshman Team and honorable mention All-ACC the same year. Knee problems caused France to redshirt the 2005-06 season with the Terrapins. France is in the health and kinesiology graduate program at Purdue.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue (3-3) lost another close road game Sunday, dropping a 4-3 decision to Arkansas. The Boilermakers’ three points were scored by Slavko Bijelica, Griff Nienberg and Paul Foley at the No. 2, 5 and 6 positions.

Purdue remains winless on the road (0-3), but are unbeaten at home (3-0) with matches against Maryland and Toledo coming up this Saturday and Sunday.

And of the Boilermakers’ three road defeats, two of them have been by one point.

But this one really had to sting.

“It was a tough day,” Purdue head coach Tim Madden said. “We’ve played in some very close matches as of late but haven’t been able to get it done in the end. Part of the problem is doubles. It doesn’t help the team’s energy when you enter singles knowing you have to win four of six.”

The doubles point was decided at the No. 3 spot where Nienberg and Jose Fuenmayor lost on a tiebreak, 9-8 (3), to Matt Hogan and Tyler Tarnasky. Then, in singles, reliables P.J. Rose and Eric Ramos - a combined 12-3 this spring - both lost in straight sets.

Ramos fell 7-5, 6-4 to Hogan at No. 4. Chris Nott came back from a set down against Rose and clinch the match at No. 3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

“The team has to start thinking how important those moments are before match point or a tiebreak,” Madden said. “We had opportunities to break through in singles and doubles, but they just came up with some very big shots.”

Nienberg secured the Boilermakers’ first point with a 7-6(1), 7-5 victory over Dmitry Lebedev at No. 5. The junior’s win was his third-straight and raised his spring record to 5-3.

Both Bijelica and Foley fought back to overcome first-set deficits and kept Arkansas from posting a one-sided victory.

Bijelia at No. 2 singles upended Colin Mascall 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 while Foley at No. 6 took down Tarnasky 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to snap a two-match losing streak.

Purdue’s matches with the Terps and Rockets both start at 1 p.m. Admission to all regular season varsity duals at the Schwartz Tennis Center is free.

The women play host to Western Michigan this coming Tuesday at 1 p.m.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue’s Robbie Hummel has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week.

Robbie Hummel, Freshman

Hummel averaged 19.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in Purdue’s two victories. Hummel connected on 14-of-21 shots from the field and five-of-nine attempts from three-point range.

The Valparaiso, Ind. native’s 21 points against No. 8 Wisconsin led Purdue to a 72-67 win. With the win, Purdue became only the second Big Ten team to win at the Kohl Center during Bo Ryan’s tenure. Against Penn State, Hummel scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds, while adding two assists and a block.

Hummel is the third Purdue player to earn Big Ten Player of the Week honors this season. Sophomore Keaton Grant took home the award on Jan. 21, and freshman E’Twaun Moore was honored on Feb. 4. This is the first weekly honor for Hummel.

The Boilermakers are 19-5 overall and sit atop the Big Ten standings at 10-1. The last time Purdue started the conference season 10-1 was during the 1987-88 season.

The Boilermakers host Michigan State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. Tickets are available. Fans can call 800-49-SPORT.

Junior Lakisha Freeman paced Purdue with a team-high 17 points.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue has needed its three most experienced players to play at a high level this season for a depleted Boilermaker squad. On Thursday night, the trio paced the Boilermakers to a 56-54 victory over Minnesota.

Juniors Danielle Campbell and Lakisha Freeman and sophomore FahKara Malone accounted for all of Purdue’s first-half points as Purdue (11-10, 7-3 Big Ten) headed to the locker room clinging to a slim 27-26 lead. Malone led the way with 11 points while Campbell and Freeman both pitched in eight.

In the second half, it was much more of the same for the Boilermakers. Freeman continued her scoring streak by adding another nine points in the second half and finished with a team-high 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting from the floor.

The first points Purdue got from a different player came on a Kalika France jumper with 16:43 left. And with the score tied at 52, fellow starter Natasha Bogdanova hit what proved to be the game-winning 3 with a little more than one minute left in the game.

Malone finished with 15 points and six steals and Campbell finished with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The Boilermakers avenged a 70-63 loss to Minnesota earlier this season.

Leslie Knight led the Golden Gophers (15-7, 6-4) with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds.

Purdue’s Keaton Grant, left, shoots over Iowa’s Seth Gorney in the first half (AP Photo)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Keaton Grant made the winning free throw with 1.4 seconds left and Purdue held off Iowa 51-50 on Wednesday night.

Purdue got the ball with five seconds left and the score tied at 50. Grant took the inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor before he was fouled by Iowa’s Tony Freeman. Grant made the first free throw, then intentionally missed the second because Iowa was out of timeouts. Purdue secured the rebound and ran out the clock.

E’Twaun Moore led Purdue with 12 points and Scott Martin added 11 for the Boilermakers (16-5, 7-1 Big Ten). Purdue, which has won six straight, is off to its best start since the 1997-98 season.

Justin Johnson led Iowa with 14 points, and Freeman added 13 for the Hawkeyes (10-12, 3-6).

Purdue shot just 41 percent, but made up for it by forcing 22 turnovers.

Iowa could have evened the season series with a win. The Hawkeyes got the ball trailing 50-47 in the final seconds. Iowa’s Jake Kelly drove to the hoop for a layup, and Purdue’s Robbie Hummel was called for basket interference, making the basket good. Martin fouled Kelly on the play, and Kelly made the free throw to tie the game at 50 with five seconds left.

Iowa led 29-27 early in the second half before Martin made a 3-pointer to give Purdue the lead. Moore made a 3-pointer, then Moore’s steal led to a dunk by Chris Kramer that pushed Purdue’s lead to 35-29.

Minutes later, Martin made another 3-pointer to give the Boilermakers a 38-31 lead.

Johnson made two 3-pointers to help the Hawkeyes cut Purdue’s lead to 42-39. The Hawkeyes trimmed Purdue’s advantage to 44-43 on a dunk by Kurt Looby, and the game was close the rest of the way.