Winning a championship is no easy task. Winning two in a row may be even tougher.
On Sunday, the Purdue Boilermakers became the first Big Ten women's basketball team to win back-to-back conference titles since 1994-95. Their victory over Michigan assured them of at least a share of their seventh Big Ten title.
Purdue head coach Kristy Curry said that her team's winning ways are a result of past success handed down to her younger players. Curry's squad last year advanced all the way to the NCAA Championship game.
"Our kids want so badly to defend and continue the tradition set before them," Curry said. "I'm starting to feel like leadership here might become a tradition."
Senior forward Kelly Komara has supplied much of Purdue's leadership this season. Komara, a four-year starter under Curry, has been a part of 109 Boilermaker victories, and she needs just three more to become the only member of the Big Ten's all-time winningest class.
"She's just trying to carry the torch," Curry said. "Kelly's not afraid to say the hard things. She works so hard, she's on the floor every day. It's amazing how hard the kid works every day in practice."
The diligent work of Komara and the rest of the Boilermakers have paid off in the form of a 21-4 record and No. 8 national ranking. The team can clinch an outright Big Ten title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament with a victory over Penn State tomorrow, but Curry says her squad will not be content until they return to the NCAA finals once again.
"Now we just need to continue to get better everyday as a basketball team," Curry said. "We're fighting for seeding in the NCAA Tournament right now."
The Wright stuff
Another key to the Boilermakers' continued success has been sophomore forward Shereka Wright, a candidate for the Naismith Player of the Year award.
Wright was named the Big Ten's Co-Player of the Week for her efforts in the Boilermakers' 84-73 win over Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Copperas Cove, Texas, native dropped a school-record 40 points against the Wolverines to clinch at least a share in the Big Ten title for Purdue.
"I just knew that we needed this game big-time," Wright said. "It was a great game for me individually, as well as for my team."
Wright shares the conference's weekly honor with another sophomore, Lindsay Whalen of Minnesota, who burned the Boilermakers with a career-high 41 points last Thursday. The recognition marks Whalen's fifth Player of the Week honor this season.
Putting the "Big" in Big Ten
While Purdue has been arguably the best team in the conference this season, strong performances from some other squads have helped make the Big Ten one of the best leagues overall in women's college basketball this season.
The conference features three of its teams among the Top 25 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll, with Purdue at No. 8, Minnesota at No. 18 and Wisconsin at No. 19. The Big Ten has earned a 85-35 overall record against non-conference opponents, and is the only league to have had as many as 10 teams earn votes or be ranked in the Coaches' or Associated Press polls.
"I just think it's really a tribute to the coaches and their great recruiting work," Wisconsin head coach Jane Albright said. "I think it's been a great year for Big Ten basketball and I'm interested in seeing what this week will bring."
