Purdue women’s basketball coach Katie Gearlds has been around the game long enough to know not to speculate on injuries.
However, the injury sustained to Purdue senior Caitlyn Harper during Wednesday’s Senior Night game against Penn State, was one that got the third year head coach emotional in the post game media session.
“A lot of thank you’s. A lot of love you’s. She’s a special kid. I would say if that’s the last game she played, she played a damn good game,” Gearlds said.
Trailing 80-77 with just under five minutes remaining in the game, Harper was fouled from behind when a Penn State defender landed on the back of her leg. Harper immediately grabbed at her left knee. She would exit the game with 29 points and eight rebounds in her final game at Mackey Arena.
“I think my emotions were definitely everywhere. I was on a really high high. We were playing well and felt momentum swinging towards us. That was unfortunate and all the emotions came to me at once. Immediately after I went back there, I wanted to come back out and watch my teammates play,” Harper said after the game.
The impact Harper had on Purdue women’s basketball was very obvious on Wednesday night, as she put the Boilermakers on her back and almost willed them to a win before her injury. For Gearlds, it was great seeing her senior perform at a high level.
“Caitlyn has been our anchor all season and talker. She’s able to clog things up. On the flip side, the kid wasn’t missing. She was stepping out and hitting 3s. Seemingly, there in the fourth quarter when we were really grooving, it was a lot because of No. 34 for us,” Gearlds said.
Harper leaves impact on Purdue women’s basketball
Fellow senior Abbey Ellis talked about the impact Harper had during the game and how things changed once she went out.
“If one of us not out there it changes the whole dynamic of the court. We knew in the back of our minds it didn’t look good. We never put our heads down, we kept playing. It’s sad we didn’t get the job done, especially for Caitlyn,” Ellis said.
For Gearlds, Harper will always have a special place in her heart, coaching career and in the history of Purdue women’s basketball.
Harper, who is set to get an MRI on Feb. 29, came to Purdue from Cal Baptist. Gearlds said all that she is will be remembered more than her points on senior night.
“Who Caitlyn is as a human being, as a woman, as a person, as a teammate, as a leader, all of that is better than her 29 points tonight. If I can coach Caitlyn Harpers for the rest of my career, I don’t care about winning a game. You just want to coach people like that. She’s all of 5’10, 5’11 and battles her butt off. I personally look at her as the first one I brought here,” Gearlds said of her senior, who averaged 11 points during her Purdue career.
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