With home-court advantage, Boilermakers open NCAA tournament play against Missouri State

3/16/2006 1:23 PM

Purdue will have two advantages working in its favor when it opens NCAA tournament play Sunday.

The fourth-seeded Boilermakers (24-6) get to play on their home court, and they'll face a potentially tired 13th-seeded Missouri State (17-14) team in the first round of the Cleveland Regional.

The Lady Bears, formerly known as Southwest Missouri State, had to win four games in four days, and upset top-seed Indiana State to win the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship and the automatic NCAA berth.

Purdue, which lost to Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament final, also would play at home in West Lafayette, Ind., in a potential second-round matchup. The Boilermakers went 11-1 at Mackey Arena this season and are 15-5 in tournament games at home.

``We're happy to be in our own beds,'' Purdue coach Kristy Curry said. ``We've won in this situation and we've lost in this situation. We're excited to be at home, you have to focus on the positives.''

The Boilermakers earned their 13th straight NCAA bid and are looking forward to being at home after losing to Tennessee in the second round last season on the Volunteers' home court.

``It's a huge difference playing at Mackey (Arena) rather than playing in Thompson-Boling Arena in front of 16,000 screaming orange fans,'' senior Sharika Webb said. ``Hopefully, we can get 12,000 black and gold fans.''

Purdue is 12-1 in first-round NCAA tournament games and has played in three Final Fours, winning the title in 1999.

Although Purdue and Missouri State have met only once, the game was one of the biggest in school history for both programs. The Boilermakers beat the Lady Bears 81-64 in a national semifinal in 2001 before losing to Notre Dame in the title game two days later.

``We have so much respect for Missouri State,'' Curry said. ``We played them in the Final Four several years ago. We have a lot of respect for their program and we're excited for the opportunity, as I'm sure they are.''

Katie Gearlds leads Purdue with 15.3 points per game, while Aya Traore adds 12.8 per contest.

Missouri State is back in the tournament after a one-year absence. After getting upset in the MVC tournament last season, the Lady Bears beat the top three seeds this season to earn their 13th NCAA tournament berth in the last 16 years.

Missouri State is led by the duo of Kari Koch and Sarah Klassen. Koch averages 20.5 points and 4.7 assists and became only the third player in conference history to be named first team All-MVC all four seasons of her career.

Klassen was an honorable mention all-conference selection after averaging 12.6 points and 6.5 rebounds.

Missouri State won the Women's NIT last season for its first postseason title.

Sunday's winner faces UCLA or Bowling Green on Tuesday.