No. 10 Purdue 58, Minnesota 55

2/1/2007 9:42 PM

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
AP Sports Writer

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -Purdue showed that there's more to these Boilermakers than seniors Katie Gearlds and Erin Lawless.

Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton scored 16 points and No. 10 Purdue overcame another poor shooting night from Gearlds in a 58-55 victory over Minnesota on Thursday night.

Danielle Campbell added 12 points and FahKara Malone had nine points, seven assists and three steals for the Boilermakers (20-4, 9-1 Big Ten). Purdue held the Gophers to 37 percent shooting to bounce back from a loss to No. 5 Ohio State on Monday night.

``We played individual basketball on Monday night,'' Purdue coach Sharon Versyp said. ``We're back to playing team basketball. We didn't take a bad shot all night.''

Emily Fox scored all 16 of her points in the second half for Minnesota (13-10, 5-5), which showed its youth with 19 turnovers and couldn't quite come up with the big shot down the stretch.

Trailing 56-55, the Gophers had the ball with a chance to win in the closing seconds, but Fox missed two straight jumpers from the elbow, and Purdue closed out the game at the free throw line.

``That's my jumper,'' Fox said. ``Obviously I'm disappointed I couldn't get those shots to fall.''

Gearlds entered the night third in the conference in scoring with 17.3 a game, but made just two of 10 shots and scored four points. She's 5-for-25 from the field in the last two games.

Lawless was just as quiet with six points and five rebounds.

Versyp said she's not concerned and expects the bye week - the Boilermakers don't play again until next Thursday - will help Gearlds bounce back.

``Today she was held on to everywhere she cut,'' Versyp said. ``It was really, whatever. ... She'll get so much from this rest and she'll be fresh and she'll be great the rest of the way.''

Wisdom-Hylton picked up the slack, making eight of 10 shots, most of them coming on open layups after breakdowns in Minnesota's defense.

``We wanted to come out and prove we could come off a tough loss,'' Wisdom-Hylton said of the 64-55 loss to the Buckeyes. ``It's really huge for us right now.''

Leslie Knight added 16 points and six rebounds for the Gophers, who gave up an awful lot to Purdue in the experience column.

Without lone senior and leading scorer Kelly Roysland, who broke her collarbone last week against Iowa, Minnesota coach Pam Borton was forced to start three freshman, a sophomore and a junior who saw little playing time before this season. Freshman point guard Brittany McCoy had seven of the team's 19 turnovers.

Purdue started two seniors in Gearlds and Erin Lawless who have logged heavy minutes practically since they step foot on campus in West Lafayette, Ind., and the junior Wisdom-Hylton, who is a three-year starter.

``We made great strides and we're heading in the right direction,'' Borton said. ``We proved we can play with anybody in the country. We just have to stop making mistakes and letting them make layups.''