WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Head coach Katie Gearlds and sophomore guards Sophie Swanson and Rashunda Jones are set to represent the Purdue women's basketball team at the Big Ten Women's Basketball Media Day in Rosemont, Ill., on Wednesday.
Gearlds will open Purdue's day at 11:20 a.m. ET on a panel aired on the Big Ten Network. The panel is a new feature to Big Ten Women's Basketball Media Day. Gearlds will be on the stage with Illinois head coach Shauna Green and Maryland head coach Brenda Frese discussing their teams' European tours during the offseason.
Swanson, Jones and Gearlds will be on the BTN set at 3:15 p.m. ET.
Gearlds enters her fourth season leading Purdue after guiding her alma mater back to the postseason for the third straight season in 2023-24. The Boilermakers reached the Great 8 of the WNIT, Purdue's deepest run in the postseason in 15 years.
Jones and Swanson finished the year ranked fourth and fifth in scoring by Big Ten freshmen with 7.8 and 7.1 points, respectively. Jones garnered Big Ten All-Freshman honors. Swanson finished in double figures in five of her last nine games, including a freshman program record for 3-pointers with seven against Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament.
Purdue will be boosted by the debut of redshirt freshman Amiyah Reynolds. The South Bend, Ind., native missed last year due to an injury sustained during her senior season in high school.
Gearlds welcomed a trio of talented freshmen into the program in New Hampshire Miss Basketball Lana McCarthy, Indiana Miss Basketball runner up Jordyn Poole and Kendall Puryear from Missouri.
The Boilermakers added a quartet of experienced transfers during the offseason. Ella Collier arrived in West Lafayette as the back-to-back NAIA National Player of the Year. Reagan Bass was an All-MAC First Team selection at Akron. Destini Lombard was the WAC Defensive Player of the Year at Stephen F. Austin. Mahri Petree is a sixth-year guard who spent time at Bradley and UTEP.
Gearlds already got eyes on her squad in game action back in August as Purdue played a three-game, 10-day tour in Spain and Portugal. The Boilermakers won all three contests and averaged 90 points per contest.
The Boilermakers will open the 2024-25 season with a five-game homestand, starting with the season opener against Purdue Fort Wayne on Nov. 6, followed by a visit from Notre Dame on Nov. 10.