MINNEAPOLIS -- Didn't we just watch the Purdue and Minnesota matchup?
Welcome to the quirky Big Ten Conference women's basketball schedule.
Less than two weeks ago, the Boilermakers and the Golden Gophers opened the league season at Mackey Arena. Now, the quick rematch tonight at Williams Arena.
Minnesota owns victories over Indiana and Northwestern since dropping the 57-53 decision to Purdue.
"They have a lot of confidence," coach Sharon Versyp said of the Golden Gophers. "Their two guards are playing great basketball right now. You gain confidence when you've won two in a row."
Freshman Rachel Banham is coming off a season-best 26-point performance at Northwestern. She scored 15 against Purdue, 13 in the second half while battling through foul trouble.
The Boilermakers will have to contend with Minnesota's physical style of play. The Golden Gophers were whistled for 25 fouls, but Purdue committed only 12 turnovers. However, the Boilermakers shot just 30.4 percent from the field as Brittany Rayburn and Courtney Moses were a combined 3 of 18.
"They're a very physical team and our post players, especially Chelsea (Jones), she loves playing against physical teams, and that's something we have to be aware of going to their home court," Rayburn said.
Jones and Alex Guyton combined to block seven shots in the first game.
Producing
Turnovers remain an issue for point guard KK Houser, but the sophomore point guard has improved in other areas.
Since the Big Ten season started, Houser is averaging 16 points and shooting 51.6 percent. She's made 6 of 10 from 3-point range.
"One of the biggest things is getting that 3 ball going," Versyp said. "That gives her a lot of confidence. She's so fast, so quick that people are going to start taking the drive away.
"Now they have to play her outside because she is shooting the ball well. Because she's playing such good defense, that's enabled her to do some things offensively."
Dating back to the victory over IPFW, Houser is 8 of 13 from beyond the arc and has totaled 14 assists and 14 steals. During that same stretch, Houser had committed 16 turnovers.
Refreshed
Following last week's win over Wisconsin, Versyp gave her team two days off before resuming practice Sunday.
"We had a great, great practice," Versyp said. "We went exceptionally hard for 21/2 hours. They were ready, they were excited."
The Boilermakers had Monday off and held their first workout in the new practice facility Tuesday.
Milestone
Incoming recruit Hayden Hamby surpassed the 4,000-point mark Tuesday.
The Alabama native scored 46 points, but West Morgan High School lost to Clements 65-56. The 5-foot-7 Hamby is the fourth player in state history to score more than 4,000 points.
"It's a big accomplishment, but it's something I couldn't do without my teammates," Hamby told the Decatur Daily. "I want it to be something they can be proud of, too."
A clinic, too
Sunday's game against Iowa is on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, an annual event featuring a youth skills clinic put on by the women's sports teams in Lambert Fieldhouse from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m..
The clinic is free for girls and boys in eighth grade or younger.
The game has also been designated as basketball team and Girl Scout Day. All youth basketball teams and Girl Scout troops can receive $2 tickets to the game for orders of 15 or more. For more information, go to www.purduesports.com.
To purchase tickets at the $2 discounted price on Sunday, individuals must be in their basketball league or Girl Scout uniform.
No comments:
Post a Comment