Tonight the Boilermakers lost a close game to the Dayton Flyers thanks to poor officiating. I normally don’t blame the refs for a loss. Many other factors contribute to a loss. The officiating put Purdue in a ten point hole in the second half. FahKara Malone led a late charge by the Boilers by scoring 10 points during a 16 point run to give Purdue a six point lead. The Boilers could not hold that lead though and ultimately fell 56-53. They came back when many in the stands had given up on them. Malone ended the night scoring 17 points. That is a great number considering how cold she looked early on in the game. Brittany Rayburn had 12 points to stop her string of career bests. She got into foul trouble early on though. A couple of her fouls were very questionable. The officials spent most of the game getting booed. I am an equal opportunity basher though. They missed a lot of calls that went our way as well. They really seemed to be watching another game. Tonight also marked the return of Samantha Woods. She did pretty good against a big Dayton team. This team looks better and better each game. That is hard to say after a loss. Even harder after a tough loss. This team will be tough come the Big Ten Tourney. Write that down. Tomorrow the Boilers end their part of the BTI Classic when they host Georgetown. Georgetown beat Seattle easily tonight 68-54.
Confessions of a Sports Junkie 