The Purdue Boilermakers have become the cockroaches of women's college basketball. You can give them trouble, but you can't get rid of them.

Just ask Rene Portland.

The coach of a Penn State team that twice lost narrowly to America's top-ranked team, Portland saw Purdue trailing Rutgers in the second half of the Mideast Regional final Monday night as she left an awards dinner in University Park, Pa.

Three minutes later, Portland walked into her home from the garage, greeted her husband Michael, and asked plaintively, "Are they [Purdue] still losing?"

"They're up by nine."

The lesson that Purdue has taught in winning 32 of 33 games this season is one Portland learned all too well: "A lot of people play them tough and they still win."

The Nittany Lions lost twice to the Boilermakers by a combined seven points.

A lot of the attention regarding the Boilermakers is placed -- and rightfully so -- on guards Stephanie White-McCarty and Ukari Figgs, who combined for 40 points Monday night. With Tennessee not going to the Final Four in San Jose, Calif., White-McCarty seems like even more of a Player of the Year candidate and Figgs may get All-America recognition.

"I have two phenomenal guards," Purdue coach Carolyn Peck said. "Some have said they're the best backcourt in the country. I think so because they're mine."

Both seniors, Figgs and White-McCarty are gone after this season, as is Peck, who is leaving to coach the Orlando Miracle in the WNBA.

"We don't talk about it," Peck said of her impending departure. "That was done in July. Everybody wants to talk about it we see it as a waste of time."

Perhaps what is most remarkable about Purdue is the perseverance it has shown throughout the year, using what Portland called the "three-minute spurt" to turn comfortable wins into blowouts, ugly wins into comfortable wins and losses into just plain wins.

Though Purdue has won each of the last 10 games by an average of 15 points, four of those were games where it struggled well into the second half.

The Boilermakers trailed with two minutes remaining before beating Illinois in the Big Ten championship game, and were dragging for most of their victory over Kansas in the second round of the NCAAs.

"I don't think we'd define them as three-minute spurts," Peck said. "We have players who make the big plays when they see that that's what the team needs. Each player on the team is willing to do whatever it is that the team needs."

On Monday night, Rutgers seemed like it might run away with the game in the first half, taking a double-digit lead, and with six minutes remaining, it still led by four.

In the end, however, Purdue prevailed. Seven consecutive points by White-McCarty followed five unanswered points by Figgs in a 26-9 run in which the Boilermakers made 19 of 23 free throws.

"What can I say? All praise to Purdue," Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer said after Purdue shot 59 percent from the field in the second half. "They did what they have done all year -- driving, going to the basket, playing good defense and taking care of the ball. They just didn't turn it over."

The knock on the Boilermakers is that they aren't deep enough to contend with a team like Louisiana Tech, their opponent on Friday night.

"We don't always use it [the bench]," Peck said. "It depends on what our team needs at the time. We have a defensive stopper in Tiffany Young, a second 'iron man' in Candi Crawford, and a spark in Kelly Komara."

Purdue's best shot at a national championship comes in a season when three-time defending champ Tennessee fell short of the Final Four. With a win over the Volunteers already on their ledger, the Boilermakers can't possibly feel any emptiness over Tennessee's absence.

"Well, not for me," Peck said. "This is the first time we've had the opportunity to go with this team. I'm hoping the focus is on these teams here."

Pub Date: 3/24/99