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GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Purdue (14-9/5-4) at Illinois (8-15/3-7)
Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017 / 3 p.m. ET / BTN Plus
State Farm Center (16,618) / Champaign, Ill.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue women's basketball team returns to action Sunday, heading on the road for a 2 p.m. CT tip against Illinois at the State Farm Center. The trip will be the Boilermakers' first into the Fighting Illini's renovated and renamed arena, aiming to bounce back from Thursday's loss to No. 3 Maryland and extend Illinois' five-game losing streak.
The Boilermakers have leaned heavily on their freshman class this season and the young women have shouldered the burden admirably, contributing at a high level in a variety of areas for head coach Sharon Versyp. Freshman Dominique Oden has started 20 games this season, becoming just the third first-year starter in Versyp's 11 seasons and the 24th in program history. Ae'Rianna Harris is among the conference leaders in blocked shots and field goal percentage, tracking down assistant coach Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton's freshman block record set in 2004-05. Lamina Cooper has recently surged in the Boilermaker backcourt, chipping in seven points and three assists per game over the last four contests, and Miracle Gray has provided valuable backup minutes at the point guard position for senior Ashley Morrissette.
Illinois has fielded several freshman standouts of its own this season, with three rookies playing at least 20 minutes a game and fielding a combined 50 starts. Memphis, Tennessee native Brandi Beasley owns some of the top freshmen statistics in the conference, averaging 12.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, while Petra HoleÅ¡ÃÂnská was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after hitting five-of-six from 3-point range in a win over Rutgers.
The outstanding youth from both sides goes on display this weekend with live coverage from BTN Plus and the Purdue Radio Network. Be sure to watch online or listen in with Tim Newton with coverage starting at 1:45 p.m. CT.
Underclassmen in @umdwbb vs @PurdueWBB game last night:
48% of scoring
44% rebounds
41% assists
55% blocks#bigwbball future is bright!
🏀âÂ️- Shelley Bardon Till (@ShelleyTill) February 3, 2017
LAST TIME OUT
- The Boilermakers fell to third-ranked Maryland at Mackey Arena on Thursday, 85-70, snapping a two-game win streak, and falling for the first time this season when scoring at least 70
- The Terrapins set several opponent season-high marks: points (85), field goals (31), free throws (17), free throw attempts (24), offensive rebounds (23), points in the paint (46) and second-chance points (23)
- Despite getting beat on the boards 45-38, the Boilermakers posted a 26-23 edge in the second half, including 16 offensive boards
- The Boilermakers shot 61.5 percent in the first quarter (8-13), but were on the other end in the third, making just 22.7 percent (5-22)
- Purdue had four players score in double figures, led by Ashley Morrissette with 14 points, and lost for just the third time this season when doing so (7-3)
- The Boilermakers posted an 18-14 edge on points off turnovers, converting on 14 Terrapin miscues
- Purdue had a season-low two fast break points, but held Maryland to just two fast break points as well
HEAD COACH Sharon Versyp
- In her 11th year as the Boilermakers' head coach, giving her the longest tenure of any coach in program history
- Winningest Purdue women's basketball head coach, earning 228 to date and 345 for her career, and second in program history in Big Ten Conference wins with 105
- Purdue's eight NCAA Tournament appearances under Versyp are the most under any head coach in program history
- Starred for the Boilermakers from 1985-88, scoring the 13th-most points in program history and was the fourth-fastest player at Purdue to reach 1,000-career points (77 games)
- One-of-2 Big Ten head coaches to lead her alma mater (Amy Williams, Nebraska)
- One-of-2 former Boilermakers to serve as a head coach for a Big Ten team (Teri Moren, Indiana)
#BOILERNOTES
- Purdue is tied for sixth in Big Ten play at 5-4, even with Indiana and Iowa and half a game behind Michigan State
- The Boilermakers are 8-1 this season when scoring at least 70 points, including a 3-1 mark in conference play
- Purdue leads the conference and ranks 36th in the NCAA in scoring defense, holding opponents to 57.8 ppg, including holding Nebraska to a conference season-low 45 points last Thursday
- When holding opponents to 60 points or fewer this season the Boilermakers hold a 12-1 record, including four of their five Big Ten wins
- The Boilermakers lead the Big Ten and rank 19th nationally in fewest fouls, committing 14.3 per contest, and 14.1 fouls per game in conference play
- Purdue also holds top-50 NCAA rankings in assist-turnover ratio (1.13), assists per game (16.0) and blocks per game (5.0)
- Over the last six games the Boilermakers are outscoring opponents 64-to-13 on the fast break
- Purdue is the Big Ten Conference leader and ranks ninth nationally in average attendance, hosting 5,803 fans per game at Mackey Arena
- Ashley Morrissette is 1-of-15 players in program history to dish out 300 career assists, including 103 this season
- Morrissette leads Big Ten Conference play with 3.1 steals per game, including 13 in her last three games
- Andreona Keys had a streak of 84 consecutive games snapped last Thursday, missing the Nebraska game, but bounced back with 13 points and seven rebounds in her return to the floor
- Ae'Rianna Harris has scored in double figures in four of the last six games and owns the sixth-best field goal percentage in conference play, netting 61.1 percent from the field
OPPONENT NOTES
- Illinois heads into the weekend 8-15 on the season and 3-7 in conference play, coming off an 86-70 home loss to Michigan on Wednesday
- Despite their overall record the Fighting Illini have been solid at home, posting an 8-6 overall record and 3-2 mark in conference play with wins over Iowa, Rutgers and Nebraska
- The Fighting Illini boast the top free throw shooting percentage in the conference, hitting 78.4 percent at the charity stripe, including an 81.9 percent clip in Big Ten play
- Sophomore forward Alex Wittinger paces the team with 15.1 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game
- Wittinger is 15th in the conference in scoring, seventh in rebounds and is tied for the Big Ten lead in blocked shots with Ohio State's Stephanie Mavunga
- Illinois also features the No. 2 scoring freshman in the conference in point guard Brandi Beasley, who heads into Sunday averaging 12.9 points per game
- Beasley leads all Big Ten freshman with 5.5 rebounds per game, is tied for fourth with 4.0 assists per contest and is playing a whopping 35.4 minutes per game