Coatney's Call: Purdue Preview

#17 Nebraska vs. Purdue
Monday, Jan. 19, 6 p.m. (central)
Pinnacle Bank Arena (Lincoln, Neb.)
TV: BTN (Kevin Kugler, Debbie Antonelli)
Radio: Husker Sports Network (Matt Coatney-PBP; Jeff Griesch-Analyst)
107.3 FM, Lincoln; 93.3 FM, Omaha; 880 AM, Lexington; 1310 AM, Fairbury; 93.9 FM, McCook, 1340 AM, Sidney; 1230 AM, Hastings; 94.1 FM, Scottsbluff; 1400 AM, Alliance; 1400 AM, Ainsworth

Internet: Free live audio on Huskers.com

No. 17 Huskers Close Out Two-Game Homestand with Boilermakers
Last Thursday night was a coming-out party of sorts for Husker freshman guard Natalie Romeo. In Nebraska 73-45 win over Penn State, Romeo drew her first career start and buried six three-pointers, one short of the single-game school record. Her career-high 18 points helped spark a Husker offense that came into the game shooting just 19 percent from three-point range to a season-high 11 triples.

Nebraska used 11 players in the win over PSU, as for the first time all season, Coach Connie Yori had her entire roster dressed and medically-cleared to play.

After dropping their first two league games, the Huskers have won three in a row due in large part to their defense. NU leads the Big Ten in scoring defense, holding the opposition to 57.4 points per game. The Huskers also are one of the best teams in the nation at keeping their opponents off the foul line, committing just 12.3 fouls per game, the lowest in the conference and second-best nationally.

Nebraska will try and sweep their two-game homestand Monday evening when the Huskers host the Purdue Boilermakers at 6 p.m. (central) in game that will be televised nationally on the Big Ten Network.

Nebraska and Purdue have engaged in some epic battles since the Huskers joined the Big Ten Conference four years ago. Four of the six meetings have been decided by four points or less with three overtime games that have spanned six overtime periods. Purdue won their fifth straight in the series and handed Nebraska its only Big Ten home loss of the season when they squeaked by NU 77-75 last year in Lincoln. Whitney Bays scored on a putback with two seconds left to give the Boilermakers the win.

The first three games in the series all went into overtime. Nebraska defeated Purdue 93-89 in the first-ever meeting between the two teams in 2012 in an epic, three-overtime thriller. Emily Cady’s buzzer-beating, off-balanced three-pointer to tie the game at the end of the second overtime will be talked about for many years as one of the greatest shots and moments in Nebraska women’s basketball history.

Later that season, the two teams went double overtime in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game with Purdue emerging victorious, 74-70. Purdue won the next meeting between the two teams in their first trip to Lincoln and the Boilermakers' only trip ever to the Devaney Center, 69-66 in overtime in the Huskers’ first-ever appearance on CBS.

After closing non-conference play with four consecutive wins, the Boilermerks have opened Big Ten play with a 2-4 record, dropping four of their last five contests. Purdue comes into Monday evening’s game on a three-game losing streak. A major problem for the team has been their lack of bench production, especially after starting guard Bridget Perry suffered a left ankle injury against Maryland on Jan. 8. She has missed the last two games and isn’t expected to return to action until at least February.

The sophomore was a key part of Purdue’s offense, and was third on the team in scoring, averaging 9.3 points per game. Freshman Andreona (AHN-dri-AH-nuh) Keys has started the last two games in place of Perry, but her insertion into the starting lineup has left the Boilers very thin on the bench. In the last three games, Purdue is only averaging 8.0 points from their non-starters.

The roster makeup for Purdue is vastly different than the one Husker fans saw a year ago at the Pinnacle Bank Arena. Since the end of last season, the Boilermakers have suffered the graduation losses of three regular starters (Courtney Moses, KK Houser, Dee Dee Williams), and lost forward Camille Redmon, who started 16 games last season, when she transferred to Boise State. Additionally, freshman forward Erica Moore was suspended indefinitely by Head Coach Sharon Versyp on Jan. 2 for violation of team rules and has missed the last six games.

The Boilermakers have struggled to score, ranking 12th out of 14 Big Ten teams (66.1 ppg). Purdue ranks last in the league and 207th nationally in team field goal percentage (.388) and is 280th in the nation in three-pointers made per game (3.8). The Boilers are very effective in getting to the foul line, making a Big Ten Conference-best 279 free throws with a league-leading 383 free throw attempts. However, in last Thursday’s 65-56 loss to Wisconsin, Purdue surprisingly missed half of their 14 free throw attempts and made just 5-of-21 from three-point range. It was only the third win by the Badgers at Mackey Arena since 1984.

Senior Whitney Bays is the pace-setter for the Purdue attack. The 6-2 forward owns eight straight double-doubles, which is the longest streak in team history and two shy of the Boilermakers’ single-season record. She is tied for sixth nationally with 11 double-doubles this season and is the only player in the Big Ten to have a double-double in every conference game. She had game highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds in Purdue’s 65-56 loss to Wisconsin last Thursday night. She leads the team in points and rebounding, averaging a double-double with 15.0 points and 10.6 rebounds for the season. She had 17 points and seven rebounds, including the game-winning points, coming off the bench in last season’s win at Nebraska.

Sophomore Ashley Morissette (MORE-iss-ETTY) dished out a career-high nine assists in the loss to Wisconsin Thursday night. The 5-9 guard leads the team in three-pointers (30-of-102, .294) and is second on the team in scoring (11.7 ppg).

Senior Liza (LISA) Clemons is the only Purdue player to start all 17 game this season. The 6-2 forward leads the team in blocked shots (27) and averages 8.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.

Junior April Wilson leads the team in assists (72) and averages 8.4 points per game. Keys rounds out the Boilermakers’ probable starting lineup. Starting in place of Perry the past two games, the 5-10 Keys scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds against Iowa, before adding six points and seven rebounds against Wisconsin. Keys averages 4.7 points per game this season.

Former Purdue point guard Sharon Versyp is in her ninth season at her alma mater as the school’s head coach. She has led her team to four Big Ten Tournament championships and two NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearances. She previously was the head coach at Maine for five years and at Indiana for one season.

I cordially invite you to join Jeff Griesch and me for Nebraska women’s basketball on the Husker Sports Network. Our radio broadcast Monday evening begins with the pre-game show at 5:45 p.m. (central) with the tip-off scheduled for 6:02 p.m. on the Husker Sports Network including KBBK (B107.3) in Lincoln, KFFF 93.3 in Omaha, KRVN 880 in Lexington, KGMT 1310 in Fairbury, KSWN 93.9 in McCook, KSID 1340 in Sidney, KHAS 1230 in Hastings, KNEB 94.1 in Scottsbluff, KCOW 1400 in Alliance, KBRB 1400 in Ainsworth and many others. Fans inside Pinnacle Bank Arena can listen to the live Husker Sports Network broadcast delay-free on 87.7 MHZ via an in-arena transmitter. All Husker women’s basketball broadcasts are also available for free worldwide on the internet at www.huskers.com. I hope you can join us.

There are a number of ways to get enhanced information about our broadcast and Husker Women’s Basketball via social media. You can learn more about the team on the Nebraska Women’s Basketball Facebook page or follow the team on their official Twitter page @huskerswbb. I also invite you to friend me on Facebook (Matt Coatney) or follow me on Twitter @coatman1.

Go Big Red!

Matt