WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

WEST LAFAYETTE | It might not have ended up being the biggest win in Valparaiso women's basketball history, but Monday night's 65-62 loss to Purdue could be the best thing for this young Crusader team.

Coming off a 25-point loss to Bowling Green on Friday and still struggling to find an identity, Valparaiso came into Mackey Arena and hung with the Boilermakers until LaKisha Freeman rimmed in a shot with 19 seconds remaining. The Crusaders were unable to get a shot off at the buzzer.

"Coming into Purdue and thinking about winning is a monumental task, it's hard to fathom," Valparaiso coach Keith Freeman said. "But winning a possession, now that's a little different. This will come back to serve us well and helps us to take steps forward to improve this basketball team."

The Crusaders (0-2) shot lights out from the perimeter, hitting nearly 65 percent of their 3-pointers. The long-distance shooting helped Valparaiso jump out to a 17-9 lead, but the Boilermakers (1-0) responded with their own 11-0 run as both teams were feeling each other out. Launa Hochstetler scored 13 of her team-high 17 points in the first half to give Valparaiso a five-point lead.

"Friday just ticked us off enough that we made sure that we did everything we could individually and as teammates to get ready for this," Hochstetler said. "We knew the pressure was on them and we just came out and played hard."

Purdue came out of the locker room on a 9-0 run to take the lead, but Valparaiso remained composed.

"I thought at that point we could've fallen apart," Freeman said. "We were resilient and that shows me that we have a competitive group of kids and with as much youth as we have, that's a good thing to see."

The remainder of the second half was a seesaw battle that saw the game go no more than two possessions in either team's favor. Purdue took advantage of consistent trips to the free throw line, where the Boilermakers had 36 more attempts than the Crusaders.

After Freeman's basket, Hochstetler missed a driving shot that would have tied the game. Malone then split a pair of free throws to give Valparaiso a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but a play that was set up for 3-point shot from Sarah Ott never materialized.