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GAMEDAY INFORMATION
No. 21/25 Rutgers (16-2/4-0 B1G) at Purdue (10-7/1-2 B1G)
Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018 / 7 p.m. ET / BTN+
Mackey Arena (14,804) / West Lafayette, Ind.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue women's basketball hosts its first ranked opponent of the season Wednesday, welcoming No. 21 Rutgers to Mackey Arena for a 7 p.m. tip. The red-hot Scarlet Knights come to town riding an 11-game win streak, tied for the seventh-longest active run in the country, while the Boilermakers have won four straight at home and aim to defend the streak.
LAST TIME OUT
- Purdue lost its third straight road game Saturday, falling at Indiana 72-54
- The Boilermakers set season-low marks of five points in the first quarter and 17 points in the first half, shooting just 34 percent from the floor for the game
- Indiana shot an opponent season-best 58.3 percent from the field, including 9-of-11 in the fourth quarter
- Purdue scored 20 points off of 17 Indiana turnovers
- The Boilermakers hit on 19-of-21 at the free throw line, including a perfect 10-of-10 in the fourth quarter
- Purdue matched a season-low with just 16 defensive rebounds in the game
- Senior Andreona Keys became the 32nd 1,000-point scorer in program history, finishing with a team-high 17 points
HEAD COACH Sharon Versyp
- Versyp is in her 18th season as a head coach and 12th on the Boilermaker sidelines, making her the longest tenured head coach in program history
- Her 247 wins at Purdue are the most in school history, and she is eight conference wins shy of matching Lin Dunn for the most Big Ten victories at Purdue
- Purdue has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 9-of-11 seasons under Versyp, including each of the last two seasons, making the Boilermakers 1-of-23 programs in the country to accomplish the feat during the time frame
- The Boilermakers are 2-3 against Rutgers in Versyp's tenure
#BOILERNOTES
- Purdue leads the Big Ten and ranks seventh in the NCAA in average attendance this season, hosting 5,855 per game
- The Boilermakers have played the No. 29 strength of schedule in the NCAA this season, and are projected to finish with the No. 19 strength of schedule in the country
- After hitting 38 of their last 43 at the charity stripe, the Boilermakers rank second in the conference and 18th in the NCAA in free throw percentage, knocking down 76.6 percent for the season
- Purdue is leading conference play at 88.4 percent at the free throw line (38-43)
- The Boilermakers are second in the Big Ten in scoring defense in conference play, holding foes to 55.0 points per game
- Keys is closing in on 600 rebounds (562) and 300 assists (282) for her career, looking to become the third player in program history to hit both marks
- Sophomore Miracle Gray dished out a career-high four assists last time out
- Sophomore Ae'Rianna Harris is averaging a team-best 8.6 rebounds per game this season, aiming to break the Purdue sophomore-season record of 8.1 per game set in 1985 by Cathey Tyree
- Sophomore Lamina Cooper is coming off a five-steal outing at Indiana and is now tied for third in the Big Ten in steals per game with 2.4
Tuesday Trivia: @A23keys is closing in on 600 rebounds & 300 assists, who are the only other two players in program history to hit the marks?!? #BoilerUp #BoilerNotes pic.twitter.com/E4xwt61Lr3
- Purdue Women's Bball (@PurdueWBB) January 9, 2018
OPPONENT NOTES
- No. 21 Rutgers comes to West Lafayette riding an 11-game win streak, sitting 16-2 on the year and 4-0 in Big Ten play
- The Scarlet Knights are one of the nation's top defensive teams this season, ranking eighth in the NCAA in scoring defense (54.4) and eighth in the country in steals per game (12.8)
- Rutgers features one of the nation's deepest benches, with nine players averaging more than 10 minutes per game
- Redshirt senior Tyler Scaife ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 15th in the nation at 21.5 points per game, and has taken the fourth-most shots of any player in the country (309)
- Graduate student Nigia Greene leads the Big Ten in conference play in 3-point shooting, hitting 61.1 percent (11-18), including a 3-for-3 outing last time against Purdue
- Purdue holds on to a 4-3 series advantage despite dropping the first meeting of the season against Rutgers
- The Boilermakers fell at Rutgers in the conference-season opener, 58-50, hitting on just 33.3 percent from the floor
- Keys and freshman Karissa McLaughlin tied for the team scoring lead at Rutgers, posting 13 points apiece
- Harris matched a career high with seven blocked shots, tying for fourth-most in a game in Purdue history
- Purdue and Rutgers have split the two all-time meetings in West Lafayette, with the Boilermakers earning a 74-68 overtime victory in 2016