Purdue women’s basketball coach Katie Gearlds needs no reminding what is at stake today when the Boilermakers open the Big Ten Tournament against Northwestern.
At stake is an opportunity for her team to make a run and prove it is worthy of a post-season berth to either the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT.
“We want to play, no matter what it is, we want to play. I think it’ll depend on which one it is and what the makeup of our team looks like. Our entire team is locked into playing. We have a job of winning the Big Ten Tournament. Maybe we can find our way into the NCAA Tournament,” Gearlds said recently.
However, before the 12th seed Purdue women’s basketball (12-17) team can dream of playing past the Big Ten Tournament, it must knock off 13th seed Northwestern (9-20) again tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Minneapolis.
“Our focus right now is Northwestern. This is like March. We have a lot of young kids who have never played in March. You have to do everything you can to survive and advance. Here’s to winning Wednesday,” Gearlds said.
The first time the two teams played, the Boilermakers throttled Northwestern, 74-48. In that game, Purdue turned the Wildcats over 20 times and held the rebounding edge, 46-29
A major difference for the Purdue women’s basketball team is the absence of sixth year starter Caitlyn Harper. The Boilermakers lost the forward on Feb. 28 when she injured her knee against Penn State.
Gearlds said in the first game her team was “locked in defensively” in the first game.
“You have to find ways to make plays to win a basketball game,” Gearlds said.
A major goal for the Purdue women’s basketball team is to get things going in transition, something that has been a staple of the team.
“We have to get stops, rebound the basketball, go in transition, crash the offensive glass and limit turnovers. They are a team that went on the road and played well at Rutgers. We have to play really hard and give ourselves a chance,” Gearlds said.
Tonight will mark the first time Purdue women’s basketball has played in front of a sold out crowd at the Big Ten Tournament, something that excites Gearlds.
“It’s great. Our game has just exploded here in the last years and our league has done a good job capitalizing on great players and coaches. The top teams in our league are really good right now,” Gearlds said.
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