WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – After a season opening win over FDU on Monday, the Purdue women's basketball team takes on Eastern Illinois at 7 p.m. Thursday night at Mackey Arena.
The game will be streamed on B1G+ with Gavin Connelly, Kayla Helman and Ashlyn Boersma on the call. Tim Newton and Jane Schott will bring you the action for the Purdue Global Radio Network on 95.3 BOB FM.
The Boilermakers are 1-0 on the year following a 67-48 win over FDU on Monday night. Four Boilermakers finished in double figures, led by Kiki Smith's 19 points off the bench. The Boilermakers connected on five three points with three coming from Smith and two from Madison Layden-Zay. Defensively, Purdue held the Knights to the lowest points and field goal percentage (27.4%) of the Katie Gearlds era.
PROMOTIONS
• Hoops & Heroes - Purdue will honor active, retired and former military members, as well as first responders.
• Boilermaker Kids Club Game 1 - Kids are encouraged to dress up in their best superhero costume
GAME NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series with Eastern Illinois 6-3.
• Purdue will meet Eastern Illinois for the first time since 2001 and just the second time since the 1988-89 campaign.
• Current associate head coach Kelly Komara had 14 points, four assists and five steals the last time the two clubs met in 2001.
• The two sides met six times in the first six years of Purdue Basketball.
• Hila Karsh became the ninth Purdue freshman in the last 25 years to record at least 10 points (finishing with 12), five rebounds, one assist (2), one block and one steal, a list that includes Kendall Puryear (2024-25), Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton (2005-06) and Katie Gearlds. Karsh also finished with a team-high plus-minus of 30 against FDU.
• Kiki Smith gave the Boilermakers a spark off the bench against FDU with 19 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, all of which came in the second quarter when she tallied 12 points.
• Monday marked the Purdue debut for seven Boilermakers. Nya Smith, Taylor Feldman, Hila Karsh, Saige Stahl, Kiki Smith, Tara Daye and Avery Gordon all got their first official action at Mackey Arena.
• Lana McCarthy and Tara Daye posted matching lines of 10 points and seven rebounds in the win.
• Purdue has held an opponent to 50 or fewer points five times since the start of the 2021-22 season. The Boilermakers are 33-4 when keeping teams to 60 points or less in the same span.
• Madison Layden-Zay moved up to 34th on Purdue's all-time scoring list on Monday with 1,030 points, passing Bridget Perry. She is poised to climb spots on the career 3-point, assists and steals lists in the near future.
• Layden-Zay is on the cusp of making Big Ten history as the sixth player in league history to amass 1,000 points, 200 3-pointers, 500 rebounds (needs 76), 300 assists (12), and 50 blocks. She would join Iowa's Caitlin Clark, Michigan State's Tori Jankoska, Indiana's Amanda Cahill, Ohio State's Jaz Shelley and current Purdue head coach Katie Gearlds.
• The Boilermakers have won their last 20 regular season non-conference home games against non-power conference opponents, a run that started with a 70-60 win over Marshall on Nov. 22, 2021.
• With the win on Monday night, head coach katie Gearlds moved within 10 of reaching the 300-win plateau for her career that has included three postseason appearances at Purdue and two NAIA national titles during her eight years leading Marian in Indianapolis.