Previewing Purdue's First Game in the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament

Team stats

First meeting between Purdue and Oregon

It wasn't that long ago that Purdue and Oregon met on the hardwood. On Feb. 25, the Ducks traveled to Mackey Arena to play the Boilermakers, leaving with a 71-65 victory on Senior Night.

Oregon stole the second quarter 22-11, which ended up being the difference in the game. The Ducks amped up the defensive pressure for those 10 minutes, and it resulted in a victory. The Boilermakers ended the game with 21 turnovers, which resulted in 31 Oregon points.

That was the difference for the Ducks.

Oregon was led by Katie Fiso, who scored 19 points, dished out four assists and grabbed three rebounds. Ehis Etute also had a big day, scoring 17 points and collecting eight boards.

Nya Smith and Lana McCarthy filled up the stat sheet for Purdue on that February evening. Smith totaled 20 points, four assists and four steals, while McCarty had 18 points and seven rebounds.

How Purdue can beat Oregon

In the regular-season matchup, Purdue was actually the better team in the second half and played Oregon even in the first quarter. Things just got skewed because of the second period in West Lafayette.

The biggest key for Purdue is to take care of the basketball. Oregon's pressure defense creates a lot of problems, but when the Boilermakers were able to get into halfcourt offense, they found plenty of success.

McCarthy's play in the post was huge, something Purdue should be able to take advantage of again. If the Boilers can stay patient offensively, they'll give themselves an opportunity to advance to the next round of the Big Ten Tournament.