Northwestern University Athletics
Thursday, January 7
Evanston, Ill.
7 p.m.
Northwestern
vs
Purdue
No. 16 Wildcats Welcome Boilermakers to Welsh-Ryan Arena Thursday
1/6/2016 2:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball
| NO. 16 NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: GAME INFORMATION | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | WATCH | LIVE STATS | |
| Thursday, Jan. 7 | Purdue | 7 p.m. CST | Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston, Ill.) | BTNPlus | SideArm | |
| Social: Twitter (@NUWBBall and @NU_SportsLive) | Instagram (@NUWBBall) | Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern (coming soon) | Purdue | ||||||
EVANSTON, Ill. - The No. 16 Northwestern Wildcats (12-2, 1-1) welcome the Purdue Boilermakers to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Thursday, Jan. 3 for 80s night! Tip off is set for 7 p.m., and will be streamed live on BTNPlus on BTN2Go.
Join the 'Cats when they rewind to the 1980s! Enjoy music and other flare from the decade.
Coach McKeown is ready for 80s NIGHT on Thursday at Welsh-Ryan Arena when the #B1GCats host Purdue! Are you!? pic.twitter.com/1vS3Acno2q
— NU Women's Hoops (@nuwbball) January 5, 2016SCOUTING PURDUE
Overall Record: 11-2, 2-0 B1G
All-Time Series Record: Purdue leads 45-21
Notables
• The Boilermakers held their first nine opponents to 60 points or less through regulation, marking the best defensive start in school history (six straight in 2011)
• In 12 games the Boilermakers have had held opponents without a field goal for at least three minutes 59 times, including 31 of at least four minutes and nine of at least five minutes
• Purdue has the No. 22 scoring defense in the nation, holding opponents to 53.5 points per game (second in the Big Ten)
• The Boilermakers are taking exceptional care of the ball, committing only 13.2 turnovers per game good for second in the Big Ten and 22nd in the nation
• The Boilermakers also have top-50 national rankings in assist/turnover ratio (1.18), field goal percentage defense (.359), free throw percentage (.751) and 3-point field goal percentage (.358)
• Purdue is ranked 29th in the latest RPI, good for fifth in the Big Ten
• The Boilermakers are tied for the longest active win streak in the Big Ten, matching Ohio State with six consecutive victories
FACEOFF FACTS
Northwestern and Purdue take to the hardwood for the 67th time on Thursday. Purdue has dominated the series, historically, winning 45 of the 66 total matchups between the Big Ten rivals. The teams have exchanged victories over the past three seasons with NU winning to most recent contest on Feb. 11, 2015 in a thrilling 73-65 overtime victory.
STRONG START
The Wildcats won 10-straight games to open the season for the second-straight year. NU was one of just two Big Ten teams to open the season with 10-consecutive wins before dropping its first game of the year against No. 16 DePaul on Dec. 19. Northwestern closed out its non-conference slate with an 11-1 mark for the best start to a season under head coach Joe McKeown.
WELCOME TO MY HOUSE
The Wildcats are 7-1 at Welsh-Ryan Arena this season, beating opponents by an average of 27.6 points in Evanston. At home, NU averaged 79.5 points per game while shooting 42.8 percent from the field. Defensively, the Wildcats limited the opposition to 51.9 points per game at a clip of 32.2 percent while creating 21.8 turnovers per contest with a turnover margin of +10.8.
BIG TEN BEGINNINGS
The 'Cats opened league play with a 1-1 week. NU dropped its Big Ten opener with a loss at Penn State before rebounding with a dominating 85-62 win over Nebraska. Against Nebraska, junior Ashley Deary flirted with a triple double (15 points, 8 assists, 8 steals) to earn her second-straight Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll award.
THREES COMPANY
The Wildcats have tallied at least five 3-point field goals in every game so far this season, including eight games with seven or more and two games with double-digit trifectas. Christen Inman, who recorded five triples against Nebraska, and Maggie Lyon, who tallied five against Creighton, are the only two players to record at least five 3-pointers in a single game so far this season. The Wildcats sit third in the Big Ten in 3-point field goals made with 102 and first in the conference in triples made in Big Ten play with 22 total.
WILDCATS IN THE POLLS
Northwestern women's basketball tipped off the 2015-16 season ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll. The 'Cats have been ranked for nine-straight weeks to start the season and were ranked as high as No. 12 in the AP Poll. It marked the highest rankings since the 1991-92 season when the 'Cats were touted as high as 11. NU enters the week ranked No. 16 in the AP poll and No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
COFFEY ROLLS ALONG
Nia Coffey tallied her 1,000th-career point in the 'Cats season-opening win over Howard. The junior became the second active Wildcat to accomplish the feat, and joined eight other players in the Big Ten's 1,000-point club.
The junior was named to the 2015-16 Preseason All-Big Ten team, and was named First-Team All-Big Ten in 2015. Coffey scored in double figures in 31 contests during the 2014-15 season and poured in 20-plus points on seven occasions. Coffey was one of just two Big Ten Players to rank among the league's top 10 in points (15.2 ppg), rebounds (9.7 rpg) and blocks (1.8 bpg), while recording a team-best 14 double-doubles on the year.
This year, Coffey was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top-30 List. The list is comprised of 30 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for college basketball's most prestigious honor. She was also named to the The Naismith Trophy Early Season Watch List.
So far this year, the junior had recorded seven 20+ point performances, including a season-high 27 points in the 'Cats home opener against Howard. Coffey has scored in double figures in 29-straight games, dating back to Jan. 22, 2015, and is averaging a team-best 18.8 points per game. She leads the Big Ten in double-doubles with nine and is one of just 20 current active Division I players with 30+ career double-doubles.
LYON LINES
Maggie Lyon has scored nearly half (696) of her 1,396 career points from 3-point range. Lyon is second in program history in 3-point field goals made with 233 and is tied for second on NU's single-season record list with 83 triples during the 2014-15 season. She is just 11 3-pointers shy of tying Northwestern's all-time record for career triples.
Lyon has led the 'Cats in scoring in five games this season, including career-best 31-point performance against North Carolina.
OH, DEAR(Y)!
Ashley Deary has had a stellar start to the 2015-16 season, recording double digit scoring in all 14 games this year. She led the 'Cats in scoring against Western Michigan (11/22/15) with a career-best 25 points and added a career-high 12 assists to mark a program single-game best. At North Carolina, Deary surpassed the 400-assists career mark and became just the fourth active Big Ten Player to accomplish the feat. She ranks third on the squad in scoring, averaging 14.9 points per game.
Ashley Deary recorded 10 steals against Eastern Washington to mark the second most by an individual in the NCAA to date this season. The junior leads the country in steals per game with 4.9 per contest.
TURNOVER FOR WHAT?!
In the Wildcats' non-conference finale against UMKC, NU committed just two turnovers while forcing 24. The 'Cats two turnovers were the fewest in Joe McKeown's coaching career and ties for the fewest among Division I teams this season. Northern Colorado also committed just two against Western State on Nov. 16.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Wildcats' spend Thanksgiving tournament in Austin, Texas, where the squad went 3-0 on the week. NU was the only team (in an eight team field) to go undefeated with wins over Eastern Washington, Creighton and East Carolina. NU followed up with a win over North Carolina in its first true road-game of the season and a win over cross-town rival Loyola before dopping its first road game of the season at Penn State. The Wildcats are 5-1 away from Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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Players Mentioned
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