Lady Bulldogs to Square Off with the Purdue Boilermakers on Monday Night at 7 p.m. in Mackey Arena
December 20, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - Gardner-Webb will have a tough challenge on Monday night, December 21, as the Lady Bulldogs will travel to West Lafayette, Indiana to take on the Purdue Boilermakers of the Big Ten Conference.
The Lady Bulldogs are 9-2 thus far this season and will venture to
the Midwest for the first time this season to take on the Purdue
Boilermakers in non-conference action. The tip-off is slated for 7
p.m. in Mackey Arena.
Monday night's contest will be the first ever bout between the
Gardner-Webb Lady Bulldogs and the Purdue Boilermakers in women's
basketball. Gardner-Webb is 0-1 all-time versus the Big Ten having
suffered a 59-34 loss to Northwestern in the Bahamas in
2006-07.
Gardner-Webb is off to its best start since moving to NCAA Division
I in 2000-01, as the Lady Bulldogs are 9-2 thus far this season.
The lone two losses came to the University of Houston and the No.
11 North Carolina Tar Heels. The Lady Bulldogs started last season
5-2, what was its best start until this season.
The Lady Bulldogs' hot 9-2 start has received some national
attention, as Gardner-Webb received five votes in this week's
ESPN/USA Today Top-25 Coaches Poll. It is the first time that the
Gardner-Webb women's basketball program has ever received votes in
a top-25 national poll.
Last time out, the Lady Bulldogs recorded 16 steals and five blocks
on Friday afternoon, holding the Converse College Lady Valkyries to
23.2 percent shooting for the contest in the 79-38 home win. The
Lady Bulldogs quickness and size proved to be too much for the
Valkyries, as Gardner-Webb ran away from the visitors in the second
half en route to its 79-38 win. Gardner-Webb outscored Converse
College 40-14 in points in the paint and had 32 points off of 24
Converse College turnovers. The Lady Bulldogs bench had 44 points
in the contest compared to the Valkyries 14 points, while GWU had
18 fast break points to the Valkyries zero. Senior forward
Margaret Roundtree had 15 points, nine rebounds and a career-high
seven assists in only 26 minutes of play on Friday afternoon. Epps
had a game-high 17 points, as she was 6-of-7 from the field and a
perfect 5-of-5 from behind the three-point line. Senior guard
Meranda Burnett, along with both Dominique and Monique Hudson, all
had eight points, while off the bench freshman guard Brianna
Dillard had five points, five rebounds and a team-high five
steals.
The Lady Bulldogs have started off on the right track in terms of
road and neutral contests thus far this season, as Coach Reeves'
squad is 3-1 away from Paul Porter Arena with the lone loss coming
at No. 11 North Carolina. Last year, GWU was 6-13 in true road and
neutral site contests and didn't pick up its first road win until
its third road contest last season, a 64-55 road win at
Winston-Salem State on December 14th.
The Boilermakers enter play on Monday night with a 5-5 overall
record, with three of those five wins coming at home in Mackey
Arena. Purdue is coming of a home win over fellow in-state school
Evansville on Saturday afternoon and will be looking to make it two
in a row on Monday night. The Boilermakers, who were No. 23 in the
preseason Associated Press Top-25 poll, returned eight players from
last year's team that went 25-11 overall, finished tied in the Big
Ten and advanced all the way to the Elite Eight in the 2008 NCAA
Women's Basketball Championship Tournament. This season, the
Boilermakers are averaging 60.6 points per game on 43.1 percent
shooting from the floor. Yet the Boilermakers are doing it on the
defensive end and on the glass, as Purdue is holding its opponent
to 33.7 percent shooting, while also outrebounding its opponent by
more than three rebounds per game. Sophomore Brittany Rayburn is
leading the team with 15.4 points per game, while redshirt-senior
Jodi Howell is pouring in 9.1 points per game. The Boilermakers
have size on its side, as Purdue has eight players 6 foot tall or
taller on its roster.
The state of Indiana serves as the home state for senior point
guard Meranda Burnett. Burnett, who is in her fourth season for
Gardner-Webb, was a standout guard at Tri-Central High School in
Sharpsville, Indiana. There she was a two-time Associated Press
MVP at the State Finals, while leading her team to three straight
Indiana High School state championships (2003, 2004, 2005).
The state of Indiana also serves as the home state of Head Coach
Rick Reeves. Coach Reeves is a hometown boy from Morgantown,
Indiana and graduated from Indiana State in 1981.
Lady Bulldog fans can follow the action via live video web stream,
live stats or the radio. The live video web stream is available at
http://video.bigtennetwork.com
for a fee of $2.99. Live stats will be available by going to http://www.purduesports.com
and clicking on the women's basketball schedule. There you will
find a link to the live stats Gametracker. Brad Evans will be
giving you the play-by-play as the action unfolds on the radio at
88.3 WGWG FM radio or by going to its website at http://www.wgwg.org/.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. eastern time in the Mackey
Arena.
Every week throughout the 2009-10 women's basketball season, the
Gardner-Webb athletic media relations' office will produce game
notes featuring the upcoming contests and reviewing the previous
games.
Click on the pdf link below on the game notes you would like to
view.
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| Game 12 Notes: Gardner-Webb at Purdue |
