Purdue Women Open Season on the Road
Wednesday marks the 27th all-time meeting between Purdue and Ball State
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women’s basketball team officially kicks off the 2018-19 season Wednesday, heading over to Muncie, Indiana for the 27th all-time meeting against intrastate rival Ball State. This marks the opening of the 44th season in program history and the 13th under head coach Sharon Versyp, who is the winningest coach at Purdue with 257 career victories.
GAME INFORMATION
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 / 7 p.m. ET / ESPN+
Worthen Arena (11,500) / Muncie, Ind.
WATCH: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/d102500d-9736-43e6-9da9-a7bbc82e7564/purdue-vs-ball-state
LISTEN: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/purdue/
NOTES: https://purduesports.com/documents/2018/11/5/181106_Ball_State_Notes.pdf
PROBABLE STARTERS
Karissa McLaughlin, So.
Dominique Oden, Jr.
Ae’Rianna Harris, Jr.
Tamara Farquhar, So.
Cassidy Hardin, Fr.
LOOKING BACK
Purdue put on the uniforms for the first time Sunday, hosting Ashland for an exhibition game at Mackey Arena and earning an 85-69 victory over the Eagles. McLaughlin led all scorers with 29 points, hitting five triples, while Harris had a double-double with 15 points, 10 boards and four blocks. Oden stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and six steals, and Traylor introduced herself to the Mackey faithful with 13 points and eight assists.
FAMILIAR FOE
Wednesday’s meeting between Purdue and Ball State marks the sixth straight season Sharon Versyp and Cardinals head coach Brady Sallee have put a regular-season contest on the schedule, reviving the intrastate rivalry. Before 2013, the two schools hadn’t played since Purdue’s 1998-99 NCAA Championship season. This season’s meeting will match Notre Dame for the most games against a non-conference opponent in Purdue women’s basketball history.
STREAK SNAPPED, THEN RESTARTED
Last season the Cardinals snapped a 16-game losing streak against Purdue, earning a 66-60 win in Mackey Arena on Dec. 4 on their way to the best start in program history. However, the Boilermakers earned vengeance in the postseason, dealing Ball State a 77-72 defeat on its home floor in the second round of the WNIT. Oden matched a career high with 26 points and eight rebounds, while McLaughlin added 19 points and five assists and Harris posted a double-double with 11 points, 13 boards and three blocks.
START THE COUNTDOWN
Junior Dominique Oden enters her junior season 132 points shy of 1,000 for her career and aims to be the 17th player at Purdue to hit the mark during her third season. The last Boilermaker to hit the mark during their junior campaign was Courtney Moses in 2013-14, and she is one-of-three players to accomplish the feat under Versyp.
ALL ABOUT BALL STATE
Cardinals head coach Brady Sallee heads into his seventh season at the helm at Ball State, surpassing the 100-win mark last season and leading his program to one of its top win totals all-time. The Cardinals finished second in the Mid-American Conference West Division last season at 25-7 overall and 13-5 in conference play, earning a WNIT bid. Ball State features a very young roster in 2018-19, adding six freshman to the mix, and returning only one starter from last year’s squad, Jasmin Samz. She started all 32 games for the Cardinals last season, averaging 11.5 points and shooting 39.5 percent from the 3-point arc in 31.4 minutes per game. Ball State does return their leading rebounder in sophomore forward Oshlynn Brown, who pulled down 7.6 boards per contest and shot 52.3 percent from the field.