Indiana women’s basketball hasn’t won a game since Dec. 21 when it defeated Western Carolina University 71-44 in its final nonconference game of the regular season.
The Hoosiers have played seven games since that day, all of which were against teams ranked in the top 30 of the NCAA’s NET Rankings.
Indiana (11-9 overall, 0-8 Big Ten) has a chance to record its first Big Ten win against Purdue (10-9 overall, 2-6 Big Ten) — which is No. 62 in the NET Rankings — at noon Sunday at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana, in the 33rd Barn Burner Trophy game.
After starting Big Ten play with a slew of losses by 15 points or more, the Hoosiers started to be more competitive against conference opponents. They only lost by five points to then-No. 25 Nebraska on Jan. 8 and by three points to then-No. 14 Iowa on Jan. 11.
However, Indiana was largely uncompetitive in its 19-point loss to Washington on Jan. 14, and a second-half collapse gave way to a 14-point loss to No. 12 Ohio State on Thursday.
Despite the losses, senior guard Shay Ciezki leads the Big Ten in scoring with 23 points per game, but scoring outside of Ciezki has been inconsistent. Redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont averages 13.6 points per game this season, while sophomore forward Zania Socka-Nguemen averages 11.8, though she missed eight games due to injury.
The lack of scoring from other players has meant more minutes for Ciezki, who also leads the Big Ten in minutes with 35.7 per game. She played all 40 minutes in half of the Hoosiers’ conference games.
Meet the Boilermakers
Purdue recorded Big Ten wins over Wisconsin and then-No. 23 Washington on Jan. 8 and Jan. 11, respectively.
However, the Boilermakers enter Sunday’s contest coming off back-to-back blowout losses on their West Coast trip. On Jan. 18, Purdue fell to USC 83-57, before dropping a contest to UCLA 96-48 on Wednesday.
Redshirt junior guard Tara Daye and junior guard Kiki Smith lead the Boilermakers with 12.7 and 10.2 points per game, respectively. Daye also leads the team in rebounds with 6.9 per game.
While the bulk of Purdue’s scoring comes from Daye and Smith, the Boilermakers have found production from other players as well in their two conference wins. In Purdue’s overtime win over Washington, Daye and fifth-year senior guard Madison Layden-Zay each scored 19 points. Against Wisconsin, the Boilermakers were led by sophomore guard Nya Smith, who scored 20 points.
Defensively, Purdue has given up 83.3 points per game to Big Ten opponents, which is the second-worst mark in the conference. Indiana gives up an average of 76 points per game to Big Ten opponents, which is the fifth worst.
Purdue leads the all-time series over Indiana, but the Hoosiers have won the last 13 meetings. Tipoff for the 33rd Barn Burner Trophy game is slated for noon Sunday at Mackey Areana in West Lafayette, Indiana. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Max Schneider (maxschn@iu.edu) and columnist Sean McAvoy (@sean_mc07 and semcavoy@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
