Women’s Basketball: Purdue At Ohio State Preview and How To Watch

GAME INFORMATION

Purdue (14-6, 5-5) at No. 2/5 Ohio State (19-2 ,8-2)

When: Sunday, Jan. 29

Time: 1 PM

TV: B1G+

Radio: 95.3 BOB FM

Purdue Women’s Basketball hopes to extend their win streak to 3 today over #2 Ohio State at Value City Arena. The Boilers are coming off an upset win over #22 Illinois where the Boilers defense completely shut down the Illini outside shooting and rebounding efforts. Purdue has now held its last two opponents to under 33% shooting; The Boilermakers are 10-1 this season when holding an opponent to 40% shooting or worse.

Abbey Ellis has become the go-to offensive threat for the Boilers as of late. She started the season off the bench and has quickly worked herself into the starting rotation. The 5th year senior has slowly climbed the national ranks to move up to 11th in free throw percentage, shooting 89.7% on the year. She’s shooting nearly 50% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. She’s been phenomenal as of late.

Today will take a team effort as Ohio State will be their toughest opponent thus far. After a few game hiatus, Lesha Petree is back to contributing on the offensive end. Averaging 14.6 points a game, the Rutgers transfer will need to be at her best for the Boilers to have a chance in this matchup.

Jeanae Terry continues to be the team leader on the floor and facilitates a lot of the offense. Terry is one of only three players in all NCAA women’s basketball to average at least six points, six rebounds, and six assists per game.

Ohio State was first in the B1G before their recent upset loss to Indiana which wasn’t much of an upset considering the Hoosiers are ranked #6. After winning 19 games in a row the Buckeyes have now lost their last two (IU/Iowa) and will be hungry for a win on their home court.

Ohio State has experience and numerous offensive weapons as they have 6 players averaging double figures; 3 of them are seniors and another a junior. They’ve also been without their starting point guard who may be set to return today. Taylor Mikesell leads the team with 18.1 points a game. Freshman guard Taylor Thierry earned the first double-double of her college career against Indiana, scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. As a team they are shooting 47% from the field and 33% from 3. They struggle from the line only averaging 69% as a team.

Momentum is on the Boilers side today but we also weren’t facing the opponents Ohio State did. Nothing comes easy in the Big Ten and today will be no different as Purdue will need to locked down on both ends of the court. If our guards can slow down the Buckeyes and keep them from hammering the ball inside we may have a fighting chance. Defensive efforts will need to come from the entire squad as OSU can beat you a lot of ways. The Boilers were able to make the Illini uncomfortable in their own offensive sets and if Purdue can pull off that same effort against the Buckeyes we could be in for a fun afternoon.