COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : WOMEN’S WEST REGIONAL : Roland’s Shot Turns It All Around for Purdue

A turnaround? A recovery?

Too ordinary.

What transpired Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion was nothing less than a complete reversal of fortune, that last-second three-point shot by Jannon Roland that gave Purdue a 67-66 victory over Vanderbilt in the women’s West Regional semifinals.

Moments before, with about 14 seconds remaining, Roland missed an eight-foot jumper from the left post that could have tied the score.

And months before, Vanderbilt had hammered Purdue, 72-52, in West Lafayette, Ind., giving the Boilermakers their first 0-2 start since 1977-78. In the end, though, the No. 4-seeded team in the West beat No. 1 to gain Saturday night’s regional final against Stanford, which beat North Carolina, 81-71.

More than the outcome was different this time. Back on Nov. 25, Jennifer Jacoby was out after having a kidney stone removed. This time, the senior point guard made another recovery, turning around an unimpressive start to score 17 of her team-high 20 points in the second half.

It came after Lisa Ostrom missed the front end of a one-and-one with eight seconds to go. Tonya Kirk got the rebound for the Boilermakers and passed it ahead to Jacoby, who raced downcourt. Jacoby headed down the right side of the lane until three Vanderbilt players collapsed around her, so she passed the ball out to Roland, who shot with about two seconds left. The 22-footer swished.

“I just threw it up,” said Roland, who finished with 14 points. “I thought Jennifer would shoot it, maybe get fouled. But I didn’t expect it to go in. . . . No one wants to lose a game holding on to the ball.”