WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women's basketball team hits the road for the first time this season for an in-state trip to Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday night. Tip from the Gates Sports Center is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
Tim Newton and Jane Schott will call the action on the Purdue Global Radio Network on 95.3 BOB FM.
Purdue moved to 2-0 on the year with an 82-67 win over Eastern Illinois last Thursday. The Boilermakers were led by co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week Hila Karsh. The freshman tallied 24 points with five 3-pointers, seven rebounds and four assists. Kiki Smith and Kendall Puryear each added 11 points off the bench. Avery Gordon gave productive minutes off the bench with eight points and six rebounds in 14 minutes on the floor.
BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
• Hila Karsh was named the co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week after the opening week of the season, alongside USC guard Jazzy Davidson.
• The Rishon LeZion, Israel, native was the only freshman in the nation to average 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 3-pointers per game.
• Against FDU, she was the ninth freshman to tally 10 points (12), five rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal.
• Against Eastern Illinois, she was the only freshman in the nation that week and the first Purdue freshman since Courtney Moses in 2011 to post a 20-point (24), five-3-point, five-rebound (7) night.
• Karsh is the fourth Boilermaker to earn a Big Ten Freshman of the Week under Katie Gearlds, joining Lana McCarthy, Mary Ashley Stevenson and Rashunda Jones.
• Click here to read more about Karsh's honor.
GAME NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-times eries with Purdue Fort Wayne 7-0.
• Purdue Fort Wayne is one of six teams the Boilermakers have a perfect record against with a minimum of five games played. (Butler, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Illinois, Western Michigan)
• The Boilermakers are off to a 2-0 start for the first time since the 2022-23 campaign with wins over FDU and Eastern Illinois.
• Purdue holds a 34-16 all-time record in road openers and a 3-1 mark under head coach Katie Gearlds with the lone loss coming at No. 4 UCLA to start the 2023-24 season.
• The Boilermakers will debut a new road black uniform against the Mastodons. It is the third uniform Purdue has unveiled for the 2025-26 season.
• Hila Karsh garnered her first career Big Ten honor, taking home the first Freshman of the Week honor by the league. Karsh was the only freshman in the nation to average better than 15 points (18), five rebounds (6), three assists and 2.5 3-pointers per game last week. Karsh shared the honor with highly touted USC freshman Jazzy Davidson.
• Sitting at 18 points per game, Karsh is 10th in freshman scoring nationally and leads all Big Ten rookies.
• Karsh and Allie Turner from Gonzaga are the only two qualifying players in the nation in any class to shoot over 60% (68.4%) from the field, 70% (71.4) from behind the arc and 90% (100%) at the line.
• Kiki Smith packed a punch in her two games off the bench last week, averaging 15 points. Smith matched Karsh over the opening week with a team-high five 3-pointers.
• Freshman Avery Gordon had a solid outing against Eastern Illinois, scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds in 14 minutes on the floor.
• Tara Daye has been a solid facilitator for Purdue. She is tied with Karsh for the team lead with six assists to go with nine points per night. She has committed just two turnovers through two games.
• Taylor Feldman scored her first points as a Boilermaker against Eastern Illinois, finishing with six points, including a triple, over 15 minutes of action.
• Madison 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 66), 300 assists (7), 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.
• With two wins on the year, head coach Katie Gearlds moved within nine of reaching the 300-win plateau for her career that includes three postseason bids at Purdue and two NAIA national titles while leading Marian in Indianapolis.