ST. LOUIS — Purdue shut down Jackie Stiles and earned a shot at its second NCAA women's championship in three seasons.
All-American Katie Douglas had 25 points and the Boilermakers dominated inside and out Friday night in an 81-64 Final Four victory over Southwest Missouri State. The Boilermakers, the 1999 winners, will play Connecticut or Notre Dame in the final Sunday night.
Purdue has two starters back from the championship team, Douglas and Camille Cooper, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Purdue (31-6) overwhelmed the Lady Bears (29-6) inside with a 47-29 rebounding advantage, scoring on numerous second-chance shots. The Boilermakers had 21 offensive rebounds.
Freshman Shalicia Hurns had 12 rebounds, Douglas seven and Shereka Wright six. Erika Rante led SMS with five rebounds.
Outside, the Boilermakers put the clamps on Stiles, the NCAA's career scoring leader.
Stiles, who entered with a 30.6-point average, was held to 22 points on 7-for-21 shooting. That's far off the mark for a player who entered the game shooting 57 percent on the season.
"That was a great team defense that we played," Douglas said. "We didn't want to shut her down. We really wanted to limit her touches."
Stiles was particularly frustrated in the first half as Wright and Shinika Parks took turns face-guarding her all over the floor.
She scored five of her seven first-half points in a six-second span that gave SMS an early 9-5 lead. The last 16:43 of the half, Stiles got off only four shots.
With Stiles largely a non-factor, Purdue took command at the end of the half. Douglas had five points in a 10-0 run in the last 1:58 for a 47-30 lead at the break, including a driving shot with two seconds to go.