Purdue women's basketball Friday report: 3 things to know
How Abbey Ellis, who is from Australia, will spend Christmas and what the Boilermakers need to do in the next 17 Big Ten games to earn an NCAA bid
Three things to know about the Purdue women’s basketball team for Friday:
DOWN UNDER CHRISTMAS
Abbey Ellis would prefer spending the holidays with her family in Australia but will settle for the next best thing – FaceTime.
In what has become a holiday tradition, Ellis will fire up cellphone technology on Christmas Eve – which is Christmas Day in her home country – and celebrate with family and friends.
Her presents have been delivered but the energetic guard for the Boilermakers must wait until everyone can see her open the gifts. They’ve been stored under her bed until it’s go-time.
Since arriving in America to play college basketball, this has been Ellis’ routine. There’s not enough time to fly home and travel back to the States, not only this season but in previous years.
The Boilermakers return the night of Dec. 26 for their first practice after the break.
“I usually go with a teammate and their family and friends,” said Ellis, who was wearing an Australian Christmas sweater after Wednesday’s win over Indiana State. “I bounce around and go with the flow. I always open my presents with my family over FaceTime. The 24th here, the 25th over there.
“It’s a nice Christmas. I FaceTime my grandparents and all that. I’m used to it at this point. They’re coming over soon.”
Photo: Purdue guard Abbey Ellis in her Christmas sweater
OPENING ONE PRESENT
Let’s say Katie Gearlds could place a present for each player under the Christmas tree.
What would that present be that they could bring back to the program?
“The thing I want them to open and have is to just play with the pure love of the game of basketball and forget every outside factor. Whether it’s social media, your parents, your family, or your friends in your head, that, ‘Oh, you should be doing this. You should be doing that, or this should happen,’ ” Gearlds said.
“But just the pure love and play for the game that you’ve been playing your whole life. This is college basketball. This is a game that we should love and go out there and have a helluva lot of fun doing it. When we come back on the night of the 26th, I hope the next three months for us is the present that we open is just finding that pure love for the game that we go and play like we’re little girls falling in love with it the very first time.”
NONCONFERENCE WRAP
Purdue finished with a 7-4 record outside of Big Ten play, earning notable wins over Texas A&M and Dayton but lost to UCLA, Florida, Georgia and Notre Dame.
The victory over the Aggies should carry some NCAA tournament weight since they’re currently No. 19 in the NET rankings but the Flyers are sitting at No. 208. The five other wins came against teams ranked No. 232 or higher, creating a smaller margin for error the rest of the season.
The Boilermakers’ NET ranking is 84, too high right now for NCAA at-large consideration but can improve with a handful of quality wins.
Already 0-1 in conference play after the two-point loss to Minnesota, Purdue faces an uphill climb to become a postseason candidate. It’s not impossible but the Boilermakers can’t afford surprising setbacks and will need to pull an upset or two in order to stay in the conversation.
The opportunities are there. Three home games in January against Iowa, Indiana and Ohio State – the top three teams in the league – present the best-case scenario, if Purdue can take advantage of playing in Mackey Arena where it’s unbeaten this season.
But the Boilermakers can’t slip up returning from break when they host Wisconsin and Rutgers, two teams considered at the bottom of the conference. Purdue doesn’t have to win the league or finish in the top four but must find a way to separate itself from the middle of the pack to stay relevant in the eyes of the selection committee.
What will it take from a record standpoint? Start with winning 10 of 17 games as a baseline but that might not be enough, depending on what happens around the league and the country, and how many quality wins are included in the 10. Going 11-6 or even 12-5 clearly improves Purdue’s chances and that should be the target when Big Ten play resumes. There’s always the conference tournament to pick up a win or two.
Is it too much to ask for this year’s team to reach those win totals?
While the conference features some Final Four-worthy teams, there are plenty of chances to earn good wins during the next three months, but a full roster is needed. But Purdue must also take care of business and avoid bad losses to stay on track.
NEXT GAME
Dec. 30
Wisconsin (7-4) at Purdue (7-5)
Time: 6 p.m.
TV: BTN
Radio: wbpefm.com