Purdue Women’s Basketball Season In Review

 

Drey Mingo leaves the court with the WNIT trophy just before her illness

The men’s basketball season was changed with an ACL injury during the second practice changing the outcome of the season. The women’s season was changed four minutes in when KK Hauser tore her ACL. A dynamic point guard was lost for the season leaving the team with a true freshman running the point. That did not stop them from winning the preseason WNIT tournament. Things were looking good for the Boilers for sure. Then they got even worse news. Drey Mingo who helped lead the team to the title went down with bacterial meningitis. Not only was her season in jeopardy, her life was. She was given a 50-50 chance to make it out of the hospital alive.

 

Drey on the bench prior to the Maryland game

One of the best moments of this past basketball season was seeing her take the court with her teammates before the Maryland game. So soon after being near death her return to the court if only symbolic was a sight. These are the stories that really get to you. There seemed to be a lot of dust in the air when Drey took the court arm in arm with her teammates. I saw a lot of people that appeared to have something in their eyes including me. It is hard to believe that you could feel so much for a student who just transferred. Just being on the court was a huge deal. The fact that she became a scorer again as the season went on just added to the great story that it was.

Courtney Moses with her ball handling skills on display

Another great story of the season was freshman point guard Courtney Moses. As I said before she was pressed into service just four minutes into the season when KK the starting point guard went down with an injury. So much for easing her into the college game. Not only was she an adequate point guard she seemed to take over the team at times. She can score as well which makes me excited for next year to see what she can do as the shooting guard.

This team may go down more for what could have been than for what they did. They had so many close games that they came up just short on. Combine that with the loss of the starting point guard. Factor in the loss of Drey for one of the biggest series of games on the schedule, and you have a lot of what ifs. This team played so well in the face of adversity that I can’t help but say “Wait ’til next year.” With no seniors this team should be a force next season.

Coach Versyp has come under fire from some fans for the performance of this team. Reading what some of them have written makes me wonder how many games they see a year. When coach Curry left she left a bare cupboard. Coach Versyp has done very well with what she was given. Looking at records that may not look like it, but seeing the various injuries the team has gone through you can see how good of a job she has done. Normally you would have some depth to fall back on, but the way the last coach left the team was thin. I think that you will see what kind of coach she is over the next couple of years. As I said I think we will see good things from this veteran Boiler squad next year. I don’t know what you could throw at them that would rattle them after what they have been through the last couple of years.