Game Notes / Media Center / / @PurdueWBB / Live Video / Live Audio
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Purdue (17-11/8-6) at Minnesota (14-13/5-9)
Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 / 9 p.m. ET / Big Ten Network
Williams Arena (14,625) / Minneapolis, Minn.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's basketball team heads out for its final regular-season road contest this week, heading to Minnesota for a 9 p.m. ET tip Thursday against the Golden Gophers at Williams Arena. The Boilermakers head into the matchup at 17-11 overall and 8-6 in conference play, aiming to continue their recent successes on the road with three wins in their last four games away from home.
The Boilermakers are tied for the third-most road victories in the conference this season (six), and are tied for second in most wins away from home (eight). They have recently picked up wins at Michigan State (76-66), Illinois (72-64) and Rutgers (55-42), with their only setback coming at Penn State (73-79), where the Lady Lions shot 28 second-half free throws. The Boilermakers have shot 46.4 percent from the field during the streak, including a blistering 41.7 percent from 3-point range.
Senior Ashley Morrissette has been especially effective during the run, dropping in 22.5 points, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game, hitting 11-of-22 from 3-point range. She matched a career-high with 31 points at Michigan State, scored 23 at Illinois and had 19 points and six assists at Rutgers. Morrissette's been especially effective at the free throw line, hitting 90.5 percent (19-21) at the stripe.
Thursday's game will be the second half of a Big Ten Network doubleheader, which starts with Rutgers at Northwestern at 7 p.m. ET.
LAST TIME OUT
- The Boilermakers rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to deal visiting Iowa a 72-52 defeat at Mackey Arena on Sunday
- Purdue outscored Iowa 47-17 in the second half, marking their second-highest half of the season
- The Boilermakers started the second half on an 18-1 run, their largest of the season, and surrendered just two field goals in the third quarter
- Purdue's 25-5 third-quarter margin was its largest in a quarter this season
- The Boilermakers finished +24 on the boards (54-30), finishing one shy of their single-game high and grabbing a season-most 38 defensive boards
- Purdue outscored Iowa in the paint 42-32, marking its fifth 40+-point game inside on the year, including a 26-6 edge in the second half
- The Boilermakers are now 7-3 all-time at home in their annual Pink Zone game and raised nearly $2,000 for the Community Cancer Network by auctioning their uniforms and taking donations
HEAD COACH Sharon Versyp
- Sunday marked her 200th career Big Ten game, her 184th at Purdue, with 16 in one season at Indiana
- 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 231 to date and 348 for her career, and second in program history in Big Ten Conference wins with 109
- 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 fourth in Big Ten play at 8-6, even with Indiana, Michigan State and Penn State
- The fourth and final double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament remains up for grabs as six teams are in close contention for the spot
- Purdue leads the conference in scoring defense, holding opponents to 58.5 ppg
- When holding opponents to 60 points or fewer this season the Boilermakers hold a 14-1 record, including six of their eight Big Ten wins
- The Boilermakers lead the Big Ten and rank 21st nationally in fewest fouls, committing 14.3 per contest
- Purdue also holds top-50 NCAA rankings in assist-turnover ratio (1.12), assists per game (16.0) and blocks per game (5.0)
- The Boilermakers are 17-1 when holding an advantage after three quarters
- The Boilermakers' six road victories are tied for fourth-most in the conference overall, while their four Big Ten wins away from home are tied for third most
- Purdue is second in the Big Ten Conference and ranks 10th nationally in average attendance, hosting 5,907 fans per game at Mackey Arena
- Ashley Morrissette was named to the Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll for the fourth time this season Monday after averaging 22.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 3.0 steals in two wins last week, while shooting 50 percent from the floor (Dec. 5, Jan. 23, Jan. 30, Feb. 20)
- Morrissette's 16.0 points per game is the highest single-season scoring average for a Boilermaker since Katie Gearlds posted 19.1 points per game as a senior in 2006-07
- Junior Andreona Keys has two double-doubles in her last three games, including 15 points, 10 rebounds and six assists vs. Iowa on Sunday
- Ae'Rianna Harris was named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week on Monday after averaging 11.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in wins last week over Rutgers and Iowa
OPPONENT NOTES
- Minnesota heads into Thursday's matchup at 14-13 overall and 5-9 in Big Ten play, coming off an 85-69 loss at Michigan State last week
- The Golden Gophers had a bye this past weekend after playing three games in six days, with home victories over Rutgers (80-46) and Northwestern (71-61)
- Four of the Golden Gophers' five conference wins have come at Williams Arena, where they are 11-4 overall on the season
- Minnesota is third in the conference and sixth in the NCAA in rebounds per game, securing 44.5 per contest, and rank 18th in the country in offensive rebounding, grabbing 16.1 per game
- Junior Carlie Wagner is the No. 4 scorer in the conference, averaging 19.4 points per game, and ranks fourth in the nation with 510 field goal attempts
- Redshirt sophomore Kenisha Bell is 12th in the conference in scoring at 16.4 points per game and ranks fifth in the Big Ten at 5.1 assists per game