KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan women's basketball travels to Purdue for a non-conference matchup with the Boilermakers on Sunday. Tip-off in West Lafayette is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. The game will also be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS
Purdue opened their regular season last Wednesday with a win against Western Kentucky by a final score of 79-69. The victory was the first for head coach Katie Geralds in her new position with the Boilermakers.
Junior guard Abbey Ellis led the way for Purdue, finishing with 17 points and going 9/10 from the charity stripe. Sophomore guard Madison Layden contributed 13 points, shooting 5/10 from the field and 3/7 from deep.
The Boilermakers reserves added 33 points for their team, highlighted by nine points from both senior guard Brooke Moore and junior wing Mide Oriyomi. Purdue also scored 30 of their 79 points off of Hilltopper turnovers, and won the rebounding battle 42-33.
Purdue, much like the Broncos against Kentucky State, got off to a hot start in their first contest of the year, going on an 11-0 run out of the gates against the Hilltoppers and holding them to just one made shot on their first 10 attempts.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE BRONCOS
Western Michigan picked up their first win of the regular season this past Tuesday against the visiting Kentucky State Thorobreads by a final score of 95-58. All five Bronco starters finished in double-digits, led by 19 points from sophomore guard
Lauren Ross and 17 points from junior guard
Sydney Shafer. Shafer also led the team with five steals.
Redshirt-sophomore forward Taylor Williams posted the first Bronco double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 boards, while redshirt-senior forward
Reilly Jacobson and sophomore guard
Megan Wagner each added 10 points, respectively.
Defense was a factor for WMU in the win, forcing 27 turnovers and capitalizing with 35 points as a result of those turnovers. As a team, the Broncos tallied a total of 14 steals and held the Thorobreads to just 41.7% from the field.
Western Michigan controlled the paint against Kentucky State, winning the rebounding battle by a 43-25 margin. Additionally, the Broncos scored 48 of their 95 points from the painted area. As a team, WMU shot 50.8% from the field and 32% from deep, while knocking down 21-30 attempts from the charity stripe.
ON THE HORIZON
Following the contest at Purdue, the Broncos travel out west, where they will take on the Trojans of USC on Nov. 18 in Los Angeles before heading north to the bay area for a meeting with the Saint Mary's College Gaels on Nov. 20.
Tip-off for both west coast games are scheduled for 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
