Figgs clutched the Penn State turnover and started to dribble up court. On a night when she made miraculous play after miraculous play, Figgs' simple heads-up effort ensured that this game would not slip away.

As the horn sounded Figgs attempted to throw the ball into the rafters of the Jordan Center -- the direction from which her inspiration came.

With the game's fate in her hands, Figgs tried to reach her grandmother.

"One thing that was a true focus for our team tonight was facing adversity," Purdue coach Carolyn Peck said. "Ukari Figgs' grandmother past away a few days ago. She called me last week and said that 'My granny would want me to be here.' Her grandfather wanted her to be here, too. Tonight they came out and they played together and they played for each other -- that is what I am extremely proud of."

While the rest of the Boilermakers came to Happy Valley together, Figgs journeyed to the Jordan Center separately.

On the day of the game, Figgs returned from her Kentucky home, boarded a plane to Pittsburgh, and originally was supposed to catch another flight into State College from there.

That flight was cancelled.

So hours before a gigantic clash between the premier teams in the Big Ten, Purdue's starting point guard was forced to travel along the Pennsylvania countryside in a car.

And although she was separated from her teammates, Figgs was not alone.

"I knew it was important for me to be here for my team," Figgs said. "Our family was really close and the passing of my grandmother was really tough. I just have to give honor to God to give me the strength to come up here and play."

Sitting on the podium in the Jordan Center media room were fruits of Purdue's labors. Staring Peck, Figgs and guard Stephanie White-McCarty in the face was a baseball hat commemorating their Big Ten regular season championship.

But at that moment championship memorabilia and basketball were secondary.

Friday night Figgs played for her grandmother, while her teammates played for her.

"We wanted to win this game to win the Big Ten, but we also wanted to win for Ukari," White-McCarty said, trying not to cry. "It took a lot for her to come up here and umm. . ."

White-McCarty could not finish her thought -- her tears expressed the love she had for Figgs better than words ever could.

With that said, Peck patted both of her All-American guards on the knee and said, "Let's go home."