WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women’s basketball team is set to close out its West Coast road trip at No. 3 UCLA on Wednesday night with a late 10 p.m. ET tip on B1G+ with Bryan Fenley and Victoria Davis on the call.
Tim Newton will bring you the action from historic Pauley Pavilion on the Purdue Global Radio Network on 95.3 BOB FM, as well as the expanded statewide network.
The Boilermakers are looking to bounce back from an 83-57 loss at USC on Sunday afternoon. Tara Daye notched her fifth double-double of the year with 21 points and 10 rebounds against the Trojans, finishing one point off her career high set earlier this year. Kiki Smith connected three times from the outside to jump back into double figures with 15 points.
The Boilermakers are going for their first win in California since knocking off UC Riverside 65-58 in 2009.
GAME NOTES
Daye is second among Big Ten guards in double-doubles this season to Oregon's Katie Fiso.
• Daye has reset her career after playing in the post her first three seasons. The Newark, N.J., native already has more points, field goals, 3-pointers and free throws than the first three seasons of her career combined.
• Madison Layden-Zay is inching closer to Big Ten history. The fifth year is eight steals and four rebounds away from joining Caitlin Clark as the only players in Big Ten history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists, 200 steals, 200 3-pointers and 50 blocks.
• Kiki Smith jumped back into double figures for the first time in three games with a 15-point outing against USC, matching her season high with a trio of 3-pointers. Smith is second on the team with 29 made triples this season at a 37.2% clip.
• Purdue's last win over the No. 3-ranked team in the nation was on March 26, 1999, in the Final Four with a 77-63 win over Louisiana Tech to punch its ticket to the National Championship Game. Current associate head coach Kelly Komara grabbed three rebounds in five minutes of action in the game as a freshman.
• Sophomore Nya Smith has picked up her game out of the holiday break with 9.6 points per game at a 50% clip from the field and 12-of-13 at the line.
• Avery Gordon had a career day against the Trojans with 10 points and six rebounds, both career highs. The 6-foot-7 freshman, the tallest player in program history, has finished in double figures twice this campaign, while shooting 49% on the year.
• Layden-Zay took over the team lead with 51 assists after dishing out a season-high six assists against USC.
• In Big Ten games, the fifth year currently ranks seventh in free throw percentage (87.5%), sixth in steals (2.14), ninth in 3-pointers (2.3) and fourth in minutes played (37.7).
• During their two-game winning streak last week, the Boilermakers have knocked down 19 3-pointers at a 41.3% clip, good for third and second best in the league, respectively. Four players averaged double figures, led by Layden-Zay's 18.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game to earn a spot on the Big Ten Weekly Honor Roll.
• A win would give Purdue its second over an AP Top-5 team on the road since 2022-23, joining USC (3), South Carolina (2) and Ole Miss (2) with multiple.