#IUWBB GAME PREVIEW: Indiana Set For Big Ten Network Contest With Purdue On Thursday

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana Women's Basketball team will face-off with in-state Big Ten foe Purdue in the battle for the Barn Burner Trophy on Thursday night. Tipoff from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall is slated for 8 p.m. ET live on the Big Ten Network with Lisa Byington and Shelley Till calling the action and also heard live on the IU Radio Network.

Indiana (12-6, 2-3 B1G) vs. Purdue (12-7, 3-2 B1G)
Thursday, January 19, 2017 • 8 p.m. ET
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall • Bloomington, Ind.
TV Broadcast: BTN (Lisa Byington, Shelley Till)
Radio: IU Radio Network (Greg Murray)
Live Stats: Sidearm
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Promotions

IUWBB Cell Phone Card Holder (for first 500 fans available at the South Lobby marketing table)
GLBTAA 4^th annual Pride Day (event will take place in Spirit of '76 club beginning at 6 p.m.)
ROTC Night (members of the IU ROTC will be in attendance and recognized during the game)
IU Student Appreciation Night (first 200 students receive a voucher for free pizza from the concession stand, vouchers available at both north and south entrances)
Bucceto's "Pack the Place" (enter a drawing to win a free pizza a week for 14 weeks and a FitBit, located at the South Lobby marketing table)

ABOUT THE COACHES
Indiana
Teri Moren
Career Record: 247-163 (14th season)
Indiana Record: 48-33 (3rd season)

Purdue
Sharon Versyp
Career Record: 343-191 (17th Season)
Purdue Record: 226-127 (11th Season)

ABOUT THE BOILERMAKERS
Purdue arrives in Bloomington after a narrow 61-56 defeat at the hands of No. 11 Ohio State, which snapped a three-game win streak on Sunday. The Boilermakers are led by senior guard Ashley Morrissette (14.3 ppg., 3.6 rpg., 4.3 apg.) and freshman guard Dominique Oden (10.9 ppg., 3.4 rpg). Sophomore forward Dominique McBryde leads on the boards with 6.6 rebounds per game as well. As a team, Purdue is averaging 65.3 points per game while holding opponents to just 55.7 points per game - which ranks as the top scoring defense in the league. They are shooting 42.2 percent on the season and 31.4 percent from 3-point range.

Series History vs. Purdue
Purdue leads the series, 53-28
Last Meeting: 1/10/16 - L, 63-53 (West Lafayette , Ind.)

BARN BURNER TROPHY ON THE LINE
A rivalry will be renewed with the Barn Burner Trophy on the line Thursday night when Indiana and Purdue meet inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Boilermakers currently hold the trophy, similar to football's Old Oaken Bucket, volleyball's Monon Spike and soccer's Golden Boot, and has been around since the 1993-94 season. The trophy is a wood plaque with a drawing of a barn and an attached basketball hoop, which best describes basketball in Indiana. In the overall series, Indiana won 17 of the first 19 meetings from 1976 to 1986, but Purdue has won the last 51 of the last 61 to take a 53-27 advantage through the 2015-16 season. The Boilermakers won the most-recent game, 63-53 in West Lafayette on Jan. 10, 2016.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Cahill has turned in her seventh double-double of the season on Saturday against Northwestern where she scored 17 points and tied a season-high 13 points. She has recorded seven of IU's 11 double-doubles of the season and now has a total of 24 in her career - which ranks tied for sixth all-time.

JENN'S BIG WEEK
Senior center Jenn Anderson posted solid outings in both games against Michigan and Northwestern. On Tuesday, Anderson recorded a career night on inside the Crisler Center as she tied a team-high and career-high 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting and added a career-high 12 rebounds. The Sheridan, Ind. native also recorded just the second double-double of her career. She also tied a team-high 17 points and tied a career-high three blocks against the Wildcats.

MOVING UP THE CAREER BLOCK LIST
In addition to three active players on the all-time scoring list, IU also has three active players on the all-time career blocks list. Senior guard Alexis Gassion leads the trio of players with 77 career swats, which ranks eighth all time. Junior forward Amanda Cahill also registers on the list with 72 blocks in her career which ranks tied for ninth while senior center Jenn Anderson has tallied 53 blocks in her career which is 11th all-time.

55 AND COUNTING
Junior guard Tyra Buss secured her 55th-straight game in double figures as she tied a team-high 17 points against Northwestern on Saturday. She officially broke the all-time school record with her 50th double figure scoring game on Dec. 21 against Stony Brook. She takes over the record from IU great Karna Abram, who did it 49 consecutive times between 1984-85 and 1985-86.

HOOSIERS IN THE RPI
Coming into Thursday's game, Indiana sits at No. 66 in the NCAA RPI while Purdue comes in at No. 107.

GOOD FROM THE FIELD
Shooting 53 percent or better in eight of 17 games this season, Indiana continues to be one of the leaders in field goal percentage. Their overall mark of 47.9 percent ranks eighth in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten.

TRIO OF 1,000 POINT SCORERS
With the addition of Amanda Cahill as the 26th member of the 1,000 point club on Dec. 21, IU's roster now features three active players on the all-time scoring list at the same time.
                  • Tyra Buss – 1,326 (13th)
                  • Alexis Gassion – 1,178 (18th)
                  • Amanda Cahill – 1,090 (21st)

BUSS CLIMBS THE BOOKS
Buss has now made her way into the top 10 of both assists (10th, 323) and steals (8th, 178). She sits at No. 13 all-time on the career scoring list with 1,326 career points and has the potential to become just the second player ever to be on the IU top 10 list in points, steals and assists joining Jamie Braun (2007-10). She needs 177 points to reach Shirley Bryant's 1,503 career points to move into the top 10 of all0time scoring.

SCORING AS A JUNIOR
Buss - who set the scoring record for most points as a freshman and sophomore - continues to climb the scoring chart for most points through a junior season:
1. Denise Jackson (1,505)
2. Rachelle Bostic (1,389)
3. Jill Chapman (1,346)
4. Tyra Buss (1,326)
5. Cindy Bumgarner (1,311)
6.       Karna Abram (1,284)

LEX DOES A LOT TOO
Senior guard Alexis Gassion is also one of the Hoosier's most powerful pieces on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. The Fairborn, Ohio native is IU's third leading scorer with 14.2 points per game and the team's second leading rebounder grabbing 6.4 boards per contest. She is also second in assists (4.6 per game) and holds a 50.8 field goal percentage. Her 3.3 assist to turnover ratio is second in the Big Ten and ranks sixth in the nation. Gassion has also posted 16 (of 18 games) in double figures this season including the last 12 games.

UP NEXT
Indiana stays at home for its next Big Ten matchup on Monday night when it welcomes Penn State. Game time is set for 7 p.m. ET and will be shown live on the Big Ten Network.

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#IUWBB GAME PREVIEW: Indiana Set For Big Ten Network Contest With Purdue On Thursday

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Players Mentioned

Jenn Anderson

Tyra Buss

Amanda Cahill

Alexis Gassion

Indiana University Athletics