Krasovec, Mastodons Dominate Fourth Quarter in Another Revenge Win

Fort Wayne, IN – In the revenge game against Robert Morris (14-7, 7-5 Horizon League), scoring was at a premium for the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (14-8, 8-4 Horizon League) until the fourth quarter. For the league’s top scoring offense, not scoring more than 14 points in a quarter looked like another recipe for disaster. After losing the first matchup between the two teams 64-74 in Moon Township, the Mastodons were looking to get in the winner’s column in Tuesday evening’s contest. Rather than looking towards their two solidified scoring threats, the ‘Dons turned to two others known for their selflessness and “team first” attitudes to win 60-46 on the first game of the Homecoming Week festivities for Purdue Fort Wayne.

Lauren Lee and Lili Krasovec each had career nights in the victory. Just days removed from setting her Division I high in points scored with 11 against Northern Kentucky, Lee outdid herself by one for an even dozen against the Colonials. Don’t get it twisted – Lee can score when she needs. The Dunnville, Kentucky native now has 1,732 career points across her collegiate career. Since her time with the ‘Dons, Lee has been seen as a floor general and facilitator. She is sixth in the conference in total assists (67) and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.8). Against the Colonials, her scoring gene was activated – including a few very nice post shots and fade aways that many forwards/center would die for to have in their arsenal.

Krasovec was unstoppable. The Hungarian hooper finished the night with a career high 24 points on 11-of-14 (78.6%) shooting and a perfect 2-of-2 from the line. Krasovec was living in the post and having her way with her defenders all night. With one of the quickest steps from the post, Krasovec repeatedly maneuvered her 6-3 frame around the defender for the basket. She also played very well defensively. Ending the night with seven rebounds and three heavy hitting blocks, it felt like John Nolan and Derek Decker were constantly calling her name on every possession. Her greatest feat of the night? Well, if you ask her, it’s that she didn’t foul out as she sent home a message to her family and friends in Hungary claiming that they “can’t be mad at her tonight”. Before tonight, Krasovec had four straight games of four personal fouls, and the game before that she fouled out against Cleveland State. Certainly no Mastodon fan can be mad at Krasovec for her performance tonight.

With the recent production of Alana Nelson and Rylee Bess, many who just see the final score would imagine that the 14-point victory was about a 14-point spread, if not more, the entire game. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Nelson and Bess both were clamped down all game by a combination of the Colonial defense and foul trouble. The league leading Nelson (16.4 ppg) struggled early with foul trouble picking up two in the first two minutes of the game – one on offense and another on defense literally the next play. She would sit for the remainder of the quarter and enter the game at the start of the second quarter. Another foul with 4:49 remaining in the half would send Nelson to the bench for the half held scoreless in the few minutes she had played. Nelson sits second in the Horizon League in minutes played per game at 34.3, only behind Youngstown State’s Casey Santoro’s 34.8. In this win, she would only play 24 minutes. Her lowest minute total of the season was 23 minutes in the 104-31 against Aquinas where the Mastodon bench got some serious playing time. Nelson’s first points of the game would come in the fourth quarter with 30 minutes and 15 seconds of game time elapsed. She would score again in the fourth, but if you told any Mastodon fan that Alana Nelson would only score four points this game, probably all would expect a Colonial blowout win.

If you told any Mastodon fan that Alana Nelson, Rylee Bess, and Jordan Reid would only combine for 13 points, some might have bet mortgage or student loan values on a Colonial win. Bess played plenty of minutes, and didn’t have to worry about foul trouble. She ended the game with a team high 33 minutes and blemish free in the fouls column. The Colonial defense just had her on lock down face guarding her a majority of the game. Her 27 point performance against Northern Kentucky must have been enough for RMU’s head coach Chandler McCabe to change a defensive game plan to eliminate a large scoring threat. Bess would finish with just three points. Those three points came from a second half three-pointer. In true Bess fashion, that three-pointer was her side step shot mimicking the game winner against Purdue. Reid would be relatively quiet as well. She finished the game with only six points on 30% shooting.

Fortunately for the Mastodons, they weren’t the only team struggling with foul trouble. The officiating crew appeared to have an emphasis on offensive fouls early in this game with three player control fouls called in the first frame. One of these was on RMU’s leading scorer Aislin Malcolm. Malcolm came into the game averaging 12.4 points per game on 28.5 minutes per game. Malcolm soon found herself in the same situation as Nelson – picking up two fouls in the first quarter and sitting on the bench. She would sit until the 3:38 mark in the second quarter, but she would pick up her third foul in the half with 26 seconds remaining. This would severely hamper her availability in the third, and she wouldn’t return until after the media timeout. Malcolm would finish with two points on 1-of-8 shooting in 25 minutes played.

The missing offensive fire power that the ‘Dons are used to from Nelson, Bess, and Reid was evident. The Mastodons never led for the first 18 minutes of the game. In a complete Uno Reverse from their game against Cleveland State would start the game an ice cold 0-of-7 from the floor. Nearly five minutes into the quarter, Krasovec would get her first basket of 11 to get the ‘Dons on the board. After losing the first quarter 16-9, the absence of Nelson due to her fouls appeared to be catastrophic for Maria Marchesano’s offense. The ‘Dons would have to rely on their defense creating chaos and disrupting timings if they wanted a shot to close the gap and win this game. Purdue Fort Wayne would switch to a zone defense to help the interior defense and to give RMU a new look. After a three-pointer by RMU’s Noa Givon to start the second quarter, the Colonials would be held scoreless for four minutes. This drought allowed for the Mastodons to chip away at the lead, and a tip-in from Krasovec and a driving layup by Reid would give the Mastodons their first lead 23-21 with under two minutes in the first half. RMU’s Myriam Traore would get the lead back all by herself with two baskets, and the Colonials took a 25-23 lead into the half.

The third quarter played out like this game was billed to be. The two teams traded baskets, defensive stands, and small momentum swings only to be silenced by the other team. Bailey Kuhns scored first for Robert Morris with a shot near the rim only for Krasovec to respond with a layup of her own. Lee hit a step back in the paint for PFW only for RMU’s Eva Levingston to go 2-of-2 from the line. The lead changed hands four times in the quarter, and ultimately the Colonials would win the quarter 15-14. Malcolm’s lone two points came in this quarter with a driving layup to give RMU a 38-34 lead into the final frame.

Down four heading into the fourth quarter, the Mastodons needed either step up offensively and score a lot more than the Colonials or step up defensively and not allow RMU to score near as many points. How about both? Offensively, Krasovec was surgical going a perfect 5-of-5 in the quarter. As a team, the ‘Dons shot 66.7% from the floor in the quarter for an explosive 23 points. Lee added six, and Nelson and Bess scored their only points in this quarter. A 23-point quarter is nice, but it doesn’t mean much if your opponent also fills up the stat sheet. How did the ‘Dons defense do? RMU was able to muster a mere six points in the quarter. After only allowing four points in the first five minutes, the ‘Dons would go on a 12-0 run to seal the deal. The last points for RMU came on a offensive rebound tip by Traore to cut the deficit to 14. After the ball was inbounded, PFW held the ball at the corner of the sideline and half court near their bench for the final 20 seconds of the game.

Thanks to the efficient scoring in the fourth, the Mastodons would offset the rough start and finish 27-of-59 (45.8%) from the field. The Colonials would leave quiet a bit of scoring on the floor shooting 20-of-61 (32.8%) as a team. There is no sugar coating that the three-point shooting in the game was atrocious. Robert Morris only hits one three-pointer 17 attempts. RMU can win without the deep ball falling. They did so with no made threes in a win against Detroit Mercy, one made three in each win over IU Indy and Mercyhurst, and a 2-of-21 performance in a win over Saint Francis (PA). On the other side, Purdue Fort Wayne shot their lowest percentage (12.5%) of the season and matched the second lowest percentage of the Marchesano Era when the 2023-2024 team shot 3-of-24 from beyond the arc against Bellarmine. The 2022-2023 team went 2-of-24 (8.3%) from deep against then IUPUI.

The difference in the game was the paint scoring. After the ‘Dons went to the zone defense, the Colonials struggled. The Mastodons outscored the Colonials in the paint 50-30. Krasovec scored 22 of her 24 points in or just outside the paint with the other two coming from the line.

With the win, Purdue Fort Wayne took sole possession of second place in the Horizon League. Robert Morris, who was tied for second coming into the game, now slips into a tie for fourth with Northern Kentucky. Youngstown State holds a half game lead on RMU for the time being, but RMU won the matchup against the Penguins earlier in the year.

Purdue Fort Wayne will remain at home to hopefully put a bow on the homecoming festivities when Detroit Mercy comes to town on Sunday, February 1. The Titans currently sit at the bottom of the Horizon League standings with an overall record of 4-16 and a Horizon League record of 2-9. This is the first matchup between the two teams this season, and the Mastodons have a four game win streak against Detroit Mercy. More so, the ‘Dons are 9-1 against the Titans in the last 10 meetings. PFW also leads the all-time series 11-10. The game is scheduled to start at 2:00pm ET and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.