Jan. 28, 2005

Purdue-Northwestern Game Notes in PDF Format
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The Combatants: Purdue and Northwestern
Date & Time: Sunday, Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. CT/3 p.m. EST
Location: Evanston, Ill.
Arena: Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Television: None
Radio: WLFF (95.7 FM) and purduesports.com
Tim Newton: P-B-P
Kathleen Offer: Color

The Series: Purdue leads 32-17

The Coaches
Purdue
Kristy Curry (NE Louisiana '88), 6th year
School/Overall Record: 147-39
Big Ten Record: 68-20
vs. Northwestern: 8-0
vs. Beth Combs: 0-0

Northwestern
Beth Combs (Illinois `92), 1st year
School Record: 5-16
Overall Record: 49-61 (4 years)
vs. Purdue: 0-0
vs. Curry: 0-0

A Boilermaker win would ...
make them 12-8 in 2004-05 ... improve them to 555-307 all-time ... improve them to 182-165 all-time on the road (45-23 under Curry) ... improve them to 109-84 all-time in Big Ten road games (28-17 under Curry) ... make them 33-17 all-time against Northwestern: 15-10 in Evanston (5-0 under Curry); 9-0 under Curry ... be their 14th in a row against Northwestern; seventh straight in Evanston.

A Boilermaker loss would ...
make them 11-9 in 2004-05 ... drop them to 554-308 all-time ... drop them to 181-166 all-time on the road (44-24 under Curry) ... drop them to 108-85 all-time in Big Ten road games (27-18 under Curry) ... make them 32-18 all-time against Northwestern: 14-11 in Evanston (4-1 under Curry); 8-1 under Curry ... snap a 13-game winning streak against Northwestern.

A Look At The Boilermakers
Purdue is 11-8 (4-4 Big Ten) and is coming off a 71-58 loss at No. 11 Michigan State on Jan. 26. The Boilermakers got 18 points from freshman Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton, while sophomore Erin Lawless added 15. Lawless is averaging 14.8 points per game, while sophomore Katie Gearlds is averaging 12.9 points and a team-best 3.1 assists per game. Senior Emily Heikes leads in rebounds (5.7 per game). Purdue is coached by Kristy Curry, who is 147-39 (68-20 Big Ten) in six years in West Lafayette.

A Look At The Wildcats
Northwestern is 5-16 (2-6 Big Ten). The Wildcats are coming off a 59-48 upset of No. 22 Penn State on Thursday. Ifeoma Okonkwo led the `Cats, who had a 37-18 halftime edge, with 19 points. Okonkwo is averaging a team-best 12.9 points per game, while Sarah Kwasinski is averaging 12.7. Melissa Miller is pulling down a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game for first-year head coach Beth Combs.

Series Speak
- Purdue and Northwestern have met 49 times, with the Boilermakers holding a 32-17 advantage. Purdue has won the last 13 in a row, including the last six in Evanston.
- Purdue has won the last 13 games by an average margin of 23.5 points (76.3-52.8). The Boilermakers have won the last six in Evanston by a 16.0 margin (74.8-58.8).
- Purdue leads the series in Evanston, 14-10. The Boilermakers' last defeat in the series came in Welsh-Ryan Arena on Feb. 21, 1997 (64-55).
- Purdue's largest margin of victory against Northwestern is 57 points (94-37 on Jan. 14, 2001). The Wildcats' largest margin of victory against the Boilermakers is 31 points (71-40 on Feb. 14, 1980).
- Kristy Curry is 8-0 all-time against Northwestern (4-0 in Evanston).

Murderer's Row
Purdue recently completed a grueling five-game stretch:
vs. No. 11 Minnesota - L, 38-58 (-20)
at No. 7 Notre Dame - L 69-86 (-17)
at Penn State - L 54-77 (-23)
vs. No. 22 Iowa - W 79-75 (+4)
at No. 11 Michigan State - L 58-71 (-13)

Eight Is Enough
Purdue is 4-4 in the league, with eight Big Ten games remaining. The Boilermakers have not been .500 at the halfway point in conference play since the 1995-96 season. The Boilermakers that year started out 4-4 with losses to Ohio State, Iowa, Penn State and Wisconsin. They rebounded to win seven of their last eight Big Ten games and finished fourth in the league.

Halfway There
If the conference tournament began this weekend, Purdue would own the No. 5 seed, beating out fellow .500 teams Iowa and Illinois. The Boilermakers beat the Hawkeyes (No. 6), who beat the Fighting Illini (No. 7). Purdue would play No. 4 Michigan State in a quarterfinal. The No. 1 seed would be Penn State, No. 2 would be Ohio State, and No. 3 would be Minnesota. Northwestern, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana would round out spots 8 through 11.

Up For Grabs
For historical purposes, Purdue always has gone by the AP poll. As such, with neither the Boilermakers nor the Wildcats in the current AP poll, Sunday's game between the two Big Ten foes will mark the first for an unranked Purdue team against another unranked team in the regular season since Feb. 20, 1998. The Boilermakers' game on that date was against -- you guessed it -- Northwestern; Purdue won 79-67 in Mackey Arena.

Emergence
Freshman Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton is making her case for Big Ten honors. The rookie has come on during conference play, averaging 11.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.1 blocked shots and 2.4 steals per game. In conference games only, she ranks in the top 10 in the Big Ten in blocks (3rd), FG percentage (4th), and steals (6th). She ranks 12th in rebounding. A look at Wisdom-Hylton through her first 13 games and her last six:
- First 13: 6.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 19.7 mpg, 51.3 FG%
- Last 6: 14.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 31.7 mpg, 58.5 FG%

Block Out
With three blocked shots at Michigan State, Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton moved past Donna Gill into first place on the freshman record list. Wisdom-Hylton's rookie total is at 41, better than Gill's 39 set in 1988-89. With a guaranteed nine games remaining, Wisdom-Hylton's is on pace to total 59, which would put her at third on the general single-season list and 13th on the career list. Fifty-nine for four years equals 236 (Stacey Lovelace's record is 220). Wisdom-Hylton is averaging 2.2 blocks per game. She has blocked at least one shot in 17 of 19 games, and two or more 12 times.

Block Party
Purdue blocked a school-record 13 shots against Indiana on Jan. 6. The Boilermakers are averaging a Big Ten-best 6.4 blocks per game (6.4 in league play), and are on pace to break the previous school season record of 5.2 (set in 1994-95).

Break It Down Again
Purdue's starters were outscored 62-51 by Michigan State's starters (the Spartan starting five played six more minutes than the Purdue starting five). The Boilermaker starting five has outscored its opposition only seven times all year -- twice in Big Ten play -- and not since the Michigan game on Jan. 9 (46-35). On average, opposing starters are outscoring Purdue starters 48.4-44.3 (+4.1). On the flip side, the Purdue bench has been outscored just four times all year, and is outscoring its opposition 19.3-10.6 (+8.7).

Trailers
Purdue never led at Michigan State. The only other game this season in which the Boilermakers never owned a lead was against UCLA. Purdue has led from wire-to-wire against four teams: IPFW, South Dakota State, Indiana and Michigan. When Purdue leads a game for at least 10 minutes, it is 9-2. When the Boilermakers trail for at least 10 minutes, they are 5-8. The shortest amount of time Purdue has led in a game this season and won is 5:45 against DePaul (Dec. 9)

Bad Paint Job
Michigan State outscored Purdue in the paint by a 40-24 margin. Kelli Roehrig and Liz Shimek, the Spartans' starting post players, combined for 31 points and 16 rebounds. Emily Heikes and Erin Lawless, Purdue's two post starters, combined for 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Giving And Receiving
For the last two games Purdue has posted a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (total of 36 assists against 30 turnovers), increasing their season total of games in the black to four. Purdue, which ranks ninth in the Big Ten in A-TO ratio at 0.75:1, is 3-1 when having a positive assist-to-turnover ratio this season.

Board To Death
Purdue was outrebounded 37-27 by Michigan State. The Boilermakers have been outrebounded in each of their last six games, and six times in Big Ten play. Purdue is 4-7 when being outrebounded this season (2-4 in Big Ten games). Purdue is 6-1 when outrebounding opponents this year.

En Fuego
Prior to facing Minnesota, Purdue had been allowing its opponents to shoot 31.8 percent, ranking first in the Big Ten in all games. Since tipping off against the Gophers, the Boilermakers have allowed their last five opponents to shoot a combined 49.6 percent from the field (132-266) and 48.4 percent from three-point range (30-62). Purdue's field goal percentage defense now is at 36.0 percent, ranking second in the Big Ten in all games.

Why Don't We Steal Away
Purdue ranks second in the Big Ten in steals in all games, with an average of 10.5 takeaways per game. Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton leads the way, averaging 1.9 per contest. The Boilermakers have recorded 10 or more steals nine times this season.

Drop It Like It's Hot
Purdue has had trouble with turnovers this season. The Boilermakers, who committed a school-record-low 13.1 mistakes per game in 2003-04, are averaging 20.1 giveaways per contest in 2004-05. Opponents are taking the ball away from Purdue 9.8 times per game.

Add It Up
If each of Purdue's 381 turnovers to date instead had resulted in a field goal, the Boilermakers would have 762 more points and would be averaging 103.6 points per game (1,969 total). If the goals were three-pointers, that number would jump to 123.7 (2,350). Being conservative, turning the ball over one-third fewer times (254 total/13.4) and making 43 percent of those shots adds up to 218 more points (1,425 total), for a per-game average of 75.0 points.

At The Half
Purdue, which trailed at the half eight times all last year, has trailed at halftime in 12 of 19 games in 2004-05. The Boilermakers have won four of those 12 contests. They are 7-0 this season when leading at intermission.

Second-Half Team
Through 19 games, Purdue has scored more second-half points in 12, winning eight times. So far this year Purdue is averaging 28.6 first-half points and 34.5 second-half points. Defensively, the Boilermakers are giving up 28.5 points in the first 20 minutes, and 30.2 in the last 20. Purdue is 2-4 when scoring fewer second-half points. The Boilermakers are 1-6 when being outscored in the second half.

Super Sophs
Second-year players Katie Gearlds and Erin Lawless account for 28.7 points per game, or 45.2 percent of the Boilermakers' offensive production. Gearlds and Lawless have combined to shoot 192 for 418 from the field (.459) and 106 for 129 from the free throw line (.823). The rest of the team is 259 for 617 (.420) and 132 for 212 (.623).

An Erin To Run
Sophomore Erin Lawless scored a career-high 29 points at Wisconsin on Dec. 30. The 6-foot-2 forward has scored in double figures 15 times this year and 24 times in her career. Lawless is averaging a team-best 14.8 points per game, more than double her average of 7.2 last season, and is averaging 5.3 rebounds.

Gearlds' Game
Sophomore Katie Gearlds scored a season-high 24 points against South Dakota State on Dec. 28. The 6-foot-1 guard/forward now is averaging 12.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and a team-high 3.1 assists per game. She has reached double figures 34 times in 52 career games, including a career-high 32-point effort at Iowa on Feb. 10, 2004. She was a preseason All-Big Ten, Wooden Award and Naismith Award candidate.

Emily Posts
Senior Emily Heikes is Purdue's lone returning starter from the 2003-04 season. The 6-foot center is averaging 5.2 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds per game. She scored a career high-tying 13 points at UCLA on Dec. 5. She has recorded seven career double-doubles, including three this season.

The Book Of Wisdom-Hylton
Freshman Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton is averaging 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 2.2 blocked shots per game. The 6-foot-2 forward scored a season-high 19 points against Iowa on Jan. 23. She recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds vs. Minnesota on Jan. 13.

Marlboro Woman
Freshman Brina Pollack, a native of Marlboro, N.J., moved into the starting lineup at Notre Dame on Jan. 16. Over the last eight games her minutes have increased to 21.0 per contest (168 total). Pollack, who scored a career-high nine points against Minnesota on Jan. 13, is averaging 2.2 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

Webb Browsing
Junior Sharika Webb scored a career-high 12 points to go along with six rebounds and seven assists in 30 minutes against No. 15 DePaul on Dec. 9. The 5-foot-9 point guard is averaging 3.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.

Aya The Tiger
Junior Aya Traore scored a career-high 16 points against Iowa on Jan. 23. She now is averaging 5.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-1 forward from Dakar, Senegal, was a 2003 second team NJCAA All-American at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah. She missed all but three games in her true junior season of 2003-04 due to a knee injury.

RPI
A look at the latest RPI rankings from collegerpi.com (last updated Jan. 28):
- Purdue RPI: 33rd
- Purdue strength of schedule: 6th
- Big Ten Conference RPI: 3rd

Since 1990-91 ...
... the Boilermakers have a 185-55 conference record (.771), the best in the league.
... the Boilermakers have won seven regular-season championships, the most in the league.
... the two teams to come closest to Purdue in terms of league wins and losses are Iowa (156-84, .650) and Penn State (156-48, .765). Penn State has been in the Big Ten since 1992-93.

Roadies
- Purdue is 181-165 (.523) all-time on the road.
- Purdue is 108-84 (.563) in Big Ten road games.
- Under Curry, Purdue owns an overall road record of 44-23 (.657) and a league road record of 27-17 (.614).

Fan-tastic
- Purdue has sold more than 7,500 season tickets for the 2004-05 season.
- Averaging 8,406 fans per home game, Purdue currently is ranked fifth in the unofficial national attendance rankings compiled by the Wisconsin Sports Information Office. Connecticut is first (14,066).
- Purdue averaged a school-record 10,105 fans per home game in 2003-04, ranking first in the Big Ten and fifth nationally in attendance. Purdue has ranked in the top 10 nationally in attendance for the last nine years.
- Purdue won the second-annual SuperFan Cup in 2003-04, after increasing its attendance by 3,051 fans per game from the 2002-03 season. Michigan State won the inaugural Cup in 2002-03.

On The Horizon
Purdue returns home for games against Illinois and Penn State on Feb. 3 and 6. The Boilermakers then will leave West Lafayette for a three-game road swing at Minnesota, at Michigan and at Indiana on Feb. 13, 17 and 20.