Purdue Wins Big Ten Tournament Championship - Mar 11, 2013

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (AP) - Drey Mingo scored 24 points, and Purdue won its second straight Big Ten tournament championship, beating Michigan State 62-47 on Sunday.

The Boilermakers (24-8) led by as much as 23 in the first half and were up 19 at the break before things got tense down the stretch. The Spartans (24-8) pulled within nine, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Courtney Moses (5'6''-G-92) and a key turnover helped preserve the win for Purdue, giving the Boilermakers a league-best nine tournament titles.
Mingo set the tone in the first half, scoring 14 points, and finished with eight rebounds and three blocks in the game.

Moses scored 16, and the Boilermakers shot just under 49 percent.

Jasmine Thomas (5'7''-G-91) led Michigan State with 15 points and seven rebounds. Kiana Johnson (5'7''-G-93) scored 11, but the Spartans shot just under 33 percent after surprising No. 8 Penn State on Saturday. Becca Mills (6'4''-F-92) made things interesting when she hit two free throws to make it 46-37 with 5:53 left in the game, but Moses answered with a 3 and buried another one after Mills turned the ball over to make it a 15-point game.

The way Purdue dominated in the early going, it was hard to believe these teams actually split their first two meetings. The Boilermakers led by as much as 23 in the half and took a 33-14 lead to the locker room, with Mingo leading the way.

The 6-foot-2 forward created all kinds of havoc in inside with her quickness, and her teammates did a good job finding her cutting toward the rim. She had 10 points in about the first five minutes, and the Boilermakers hit their first eight shots before KK Houser (5'6''-G-91) missed a layup with about 11:40 left.

She also missed a 3 after Mingo scored on a layup but made up for it by nailing a rainbow shot from beyond the arc along the right wing, making it 25-22 with about 9:30 left in the half.

Michigan State, meanwhile, couldn't find any rhythm on offense and kept missing easy shots. The Spartans hit just 7 of 32 shots, missed all five 3-pointers and went about 7 1/2 minutes without scoring before Thomas hit a layup with 1:42 left. Johnson added a jumper for Michigan State with 18 seconds left to make it a 19-point game.

Courtesy of Big10

Big Ten Tournament Final: Purdue - Michigan State 62-47
Big Ten Tournament Semifinals:
Purdue - Nebraska 77-64
Michigan State - Penn State 54-46

All-Big Ten 1st Team 2012-2013
#s#	Mingo	Banham	Hooper	Hill	Bentley	#e#5