Hawkeyes Travel to Purdue

THE SETTING

The Iowa Hawkeyes (8-6, 1-2) remain on the road this week when they travel back to the state of Indiana to face the Purdue Boilermakers (9-5, 2-1) in West Lafayette. Tip-off is slated for 6:06 p.m. (CST) in Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers have won four of their last five games, while the Hawkeyes are looking to snap a two-game losing skid.

Thursday concludes Iowa’s difficult stretch of playing four of its last five games on the road.

ALL-TIME SERIES

Thursday will be the 56th meeting between Iowa and Purdue, with the Boilermakers leading the series 31-24. Purdue holds a 15-9 advantage in games played at West Lafayette. Iowa and Purdue will meet for the second time in as many weeks Thursday. The Boilermakers downed the Hawkeyes, 69-60, Dec, 28, 2008 in the second conference game of the season in Iowa City.

The Boilermakers have won 11 of the last 13 meetings. Purdue has won the last eight contests played in Mackey Arena. The Hawkeyes’ last win at West Lafayette came on Feb. 6, 1998.

SCOUTING PURDUE

Thursday will be Purdue’s third-straight home game. The Boilermakers lost to Michigan State in overtime (68-62) on New Year’s Day and beat fourth-ranked Texas Monday night (66-55). Purdue will have two days to prepare for the Hawkeyes.

Purdue is coming off an 11-point win over No. 4 Texas Monday night in Mackey Arena. The Longhorns were whistled for 21 fouls and the Boilermakers attempted 20 more free throws than Texas. Purdue converted 21 of its 27 attempts (.778), while Texas was only 6-7 (.857) from the charity stripe. Senior forward Danielle Campbell posted a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds), while freshman guard Brittany Rayburn led all scorers with 19 points, bolstered by 3-5 shooting from behind the 3-point arc.

Senior center Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton averages team highs in scoring (12.9), steals (2.5), rebounding (9.0) and field goal percentage (.490). Senior Lakisha Freeman ranks second in team scoring (11.1). Campbell ranks fourth in team scoring (9.3), first in blocks (2.1) and second in rebounding (8.8). Hylton (2.5) and junior FahKara Malone (2.43) rank three-four in Big Ten steals.

Purdue ranks second in the Big Ten in field goal percentage defense (.349) and blocks (5.1), and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (.359), turnover margin (+1.6) and assists (15.71). The Boilermakers ranks last in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.373).

Sharon Versyp is in her ninth season (176-91, .659) as a head coach and her third (59-26, .694) on the Boilermaker sidelines.

IOWA, PURDUE NOTES

• Iowa is 3-5 in games away from Iowa City, while Purdue is 5-2 in home contests. The Boilermakers average 8,902 fans in their seven home dates.

• Nine of Iowa’s 14 games have been decided by 18 points or more (5-4).

• Kristi Smith collected her 350th career assist at Indiana. She is only four assists from passing Jolette Law for seventh and eight from passing Nadine Domond for sixth on Iowa’s career assists chart.

• Four Hawkeyes average double figures in scoring against Purdue. In seven games against the Boilermakers, Kristi Smith averages 15.1 points and is 19-20 (.950) from the foul line. Kachine Alexander scored 15 points in her only game against Purdue. Wendy Ausdemore averages 12.4 points, while Megan Skouby averages 10.9 points in seven games vs. Purdue.

• Wendy Ausdemore has missed only two free throws (26-28, .929).

• Nine Big Ten teams already have at least one loss. Furthermore, seven squads already have two losses or more.

• Iowa players have corralled double-digit rebounds 12 times this season. JoAnn Hamlin and Kachine Alexander have accomplished the feat a team-best five times, while Wendy Ausdemore has done it twice.

• Iowa has held seven of the eight teams it has defeated to 58 points or less.

• Kachine Alexander and JoAnn Hamlin lead the team in rebounding, averaging 7.7 and 7.5, respectively. Alexander ranks eighth in league rebounding, while Hamlin ranks ninth.

• Iowa has had six different players lead the team in scoring through 14 games. Wendy Ausdemore and Megan Skouby have shared or led the squad in scoring a team-best five times.

• Iowa ranks fifth in the country in free throw percentage (.796). The Hawkeyes have made (226) nearly as many free throws than their opponents have attempted (230).

• Both Wendy Ausdemore and Kristi Smith have scored 146 points. The duo are tied for second in team scoring behind Megan Skouby (197 points).

• Last season, Megan Skouby blocked 23 shots in 32 games; she has already amassed 25 through 14 games this season. She currently sits third on Iowa’s all-time career rejections list with 132. She is only 14 blocks from passing Toni Foster for second.

• Kristi Smith and Megan Skouby have reached double figures a team-best nine times.

• Iowa has an RPI rating of 28th in the country and strength of schedule that ranks sixth. The Hawkeyes’ strength of schedule ranks second-best in the Big Ten. Purdue’s win over Texas Monday night vaulted the Boilermakers 13 spots in Tuesday’s RPI rankings. Purdue is rated 38th in the RPI and 24th in the strength of schedule. The numbers are based on the report published on Jan. 6.

LAST MEETING

Purdue snapped Iowa’s 12-game home winning streak with a 69-60 victory Dec. 28 in Iowa City. The Boilermakers used a 10-0 second-half run to propel Purdue to victory.

Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton led all scorers with 17 points; she also added seven rebounds. Danielle Campbell registered a double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds), while Lakisha Freeman scored all 10 of her points in the second stanza.

Iowa was led by Kristi Smith, Kachine Alexander and Wendy Ausdemore. Alexander netted 11 of her 15 points from the free throw line, while Ausdemore scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half. Smith tallied a team-high 16 points.

Iowa closed to within 50-45 with 7:24 left in the game, but were unable to get any closer.

HAWKEYES FALL AT INDIANA

Indiana scored the game’s first nine points and never looked back en route to a 76-54 win over Iowa Sunday afternoon at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, IN. The victory was Indiana’s ninth straight, while Iowa dropped its second-consecutive contest.

The 22-point loss is the third-largest margin of defeat to Indiana in the 53-game series history.

The Hoosiers dominated in the post, outscoring the Hawkeyes 34-4 in the paint. Indiana also converted all nine offensive rebounds, scoring 18 second-chance points.

Iowa was led by Megan Skouby, JoAnn Hamlin and Kachine Alexander. Skouby netted 13 of her 15 points in the second stanza. Hamlin tallied 10 points and seven rebounds, while Alexander contributed nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Indiana held two of Iowa’s offensive threats, Wendy Ausdemore and Kristi Smith, to a combined three points.

Indiana’s Jamie Braun led all scorers with 19, while Whitney Thomas posted a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds). Thomas’ ninth point was the 1,000th of her career.

FINDING WAYS TO SCORE

Kachine Alexander has found ways to score this season. The sophomore is Iowa’s best penetrator and has scored 115 points this year -- 65 points coming via 32 field goals and 50 coming from the free throw line. In the last two games, 18 of her 24 points have come from the charity stripe.

LIKING THE DISTANCE

Wendy Ausdemore has made more 3-pointers than two-point field goals this season. Ausdemore, who ranked third in the country in 3-point percentage a year ago, has made 26 triples and 21 two-pointers through 14 games.

Last season, Ausdemore made 78 treys and 54 two-pointers in 32 contests.

ON THE HORIZON

The Hawkeyes return home Sunday when they host Minnesota at 4:36 p.m. inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.