Jennifer Parr anguishes over the loss. (Craig Ruttle photos) | ZOOM |

        BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Purdue ended Xavier's dream season one game away from the Final Four Monday night in the NCAA Tournament Mideast Region championship game.

        The Boilermakers were 88-78 winners over a Xavier team whose 3-point shooting and fast-break offense were taken away by Purdue's pressure defense and physical inside game.

        Xavier led last at 63-62 on Nicole Levandusky's 3-pointer with 7:46 remaining. But after Jennifer Phillips had to go the bench with her fourth foul, the lead slipped away. XU's five-player senior class leaves the program with a 98-29 record in four years, including a school record 31-3 mark this year. The loss also ended the team's 21-game win streak.

        “I hugged every one of them and thanked them for all of their hard work,” Xavier coach Melanie Balcomb said.

Melanie Balcomb stands outside the locker room after the game | ZOOM |

        Seniors Phillips and Levandusky fouled out and watched the final minutes from the bench. The remaining member of the “Three Musketeers,” center Taru Tuukkanen, led all scorers with 23 points.

        Tuukkanen and Levandusky came to the postgame news conference with red eyes. They, like their teammates, had cried in the locker room after the loss.

        “You can pretty much tell by us how it was in there,” said Tuukkanen, who fought off more tears in front of the media.

        Senior Jennifer Parr added 14 points for the Musketeers. “We'll always look back and say we should have gone further,” she said.

        Erin Hall ended her XU career with a short first-half appearance.

        “I'm a little disappointed, but I have a lot of pride in what we accomplished,” Hall said. “I know from last year, it took a couple weeks to a couple months to get over it. I'm sure it will take at least that long, especially for the seniors who can't look forward to coming back.”

        Xavier, which had shot 52 percent on the season, made only 27 of 61 field goal attempts (44 percent).

        The Musketeers will return to campus at 11 a.m. today. The public is invited to welcome the team in the Cintas Center.

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NCAA Tournament coverage at Cincinnati.com

XAVIER (78)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Phillips        23   5-6   2-3   1-2  0  5   12
Levandusky      31  6-15   2-3  3-10  3  5   19
Tuukkanen       40  8-14   6-6   1-9  4  1   23
Piipari         36   1-8   0-0   2-3  2  2    3
Parr            28   5-8   0-0   2-2  1  4   14
Waugh           24  2-10   2-2   0-1  4  2    7
Kreager         16   0-0   0-0   2-3  0  3    0
Hall             1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Bell             1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 27-61 12-14 11-30 14 22   78
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.443, FT-.857. 3-Point Goals:
12-33, .364 (Levandusky 5-12, Tuukkanen 1-2,
Piipari 1-4, Parr 4-7, Waugh 1-8). Team rebounds:
4. Blocked shots: 1 (Phillips). Turnovers: 19
(Levandusky 4, Waugh 4, Phillips 3, Parr 2, Bell,
Hall, Kreager). Steals: 4 (Levandusky 2,
Tuukkanen, Waugh).


PURDUE (88)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Hurns           37   5-9   0-0  7-12  0  2   10
Wright          32   4-9   5-6   3-4  0  3   14
Cooper          28   6-9   4-5   3-6  1  3   16
Komara          38  6-12   6-7   0-3  5  2   20
Douglas         37  3-13 11-12   0-7  8  1   19
Hicks            2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Parks           14   1-4   0-0   0-1  1  1    3
Crawford        12   2-5   2-2   1-1  0  3    6
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 27-61 28-32 14-34 15 15   88
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.443, FT-.875. 3-Point Goals:
6-12, .500 (Wright 1-1, Komara 2-5, Douglas 2-4,
Parks 1-2). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 1
(Wright). Turnovers: 11 (Wright 4, Parks 3,
Cooper, Douglas, Hurns, Komara). Steals: 8
(Komara 4, Wright 3, Douglas).
__________________________________
Xavier             32   46  -   78
Purdue             34   54  -   88
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 4,092. Officials:
Melissa Barlow, Barbara Smith, Dock Sisk.

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