Lindsay Whalen sees a team working hard. Every day, she said. In practice and in games. On both ends of the court.
But the results, right now, just aren't there.
Again Thursday, her Gophers women's basketball team held an upper-division opponent to 64 points. The Gophers defended hard, though there were cracks to be seen down the stretch. But they just couldn't score enough in a 64-53 loss to Purdue at Williams Arena in front of 5,572 fans.
"These guys are playing so hard,'' Whalen said. "Every possession. This is not for a lack of effort. These kids are in the gym all the time, shooting. I feel for them. But I know it will pay off at some point. I told 'em, the hard work will pay off.''
For now, unfortunately, difficulty scoring has led to a second straight loss and the sixth in seven games for Minnesota (13-6, 2-6 Big Ten).
Up by a point at halftime, the Gophers made only 11 of 34 second-half shots. A 13-3 Purdue run put the Boilermakers (15-6, 6-2) up seven with 3:40 left in the third quarter and Purdue never trailed again. The Gophers pulled with four points twice in the fourth quarter — the last time on Taiye Bello's put-back with 4:08 left. But Purdue finished the game on a 12-5 run.
Pitts had a good night shooting, making five of 11 three-pointers and scoring 19 points. Senior guard Kenisha Bell had 17 points, with 14 coming in the second half. But the rest of the Gophers managed only 12 points in the final two quarters.
Purdue got 17 points from Karissa McLaughlin. Forward Ae'Rianna Harris had 13, all of them in the second half as Purdue did a better job of running its offense inside-out. Dominique Oden had 14.