No. 4 Boilers to begin WNIT
tournament action
By Anne McLaren
Assistant
Sports Editor
Senior All-American Katie
Douglas is hoping to have a better individual start against Eastern
Michigan in the first round of the preseason WNIT on Saturday.
Douglas scored eight points
against Tapiolan Honka and 11 points against the Mexican national team.
The guard averaged 20.4 points per game last season.
"I think you could tell
in the exhibitions that I couldn’t get in a good rhythm like I’m
used to getting into," said Douglas. "I think that I’ve
had enough experience the last three years that it’s going to be
easier to get into the flow of games when the real games start out,
like on Saturday."
At 5 p.m. Saturday, No. 4
Purdue faces Eastern Michigan in Mackey Arena in the first round of
the preseason WNIT. It is the first game of the season for both teams.
If the Boilers win, they will face the winner of the James Madison/Georgetown
game in Mackey Arena at 7 p.m. Monday.
Should the Boilers continue
to win, they would advance to the semi-finals on Nov. 19 at a to-be-determined
site. Semifinal opponents would most likely be Tulane or Texas. If the
Boilers make it to the finals on Nov. 20, Purdue would play the winner
from the other half of the bracket, which could be No. 15 Virginia or
No. 9 Louisiana Tech.
Curry said that the team
doesn’t know much about Eastern Michigan, who went 16-14 last season,
8-8 in the Mid-American Conference.
"Pretty much all that
we know is what we watched on film from last year and their two exhibition
games," said Curry. "What’s scary about this time of
year is the unknown. Certainly that’s part of basketball."
In the Boilers’ two
exhibitions, which they won by a total of 111 points and scored an average
of 111.5 points, Purdue played all 13 of its players.
"We were trying to play
a lot of people in our exhibitions and obviously the scores and things
dictated that," said Curry. "But I definitely see (Douglas)
getting 28-30 minutes per game and obviously she’ll be able to
get in more of a rhythm and a flow that way. It’s hard to come
in and come out."
It is important for the Boilers
to have good attendance at Mackey Arena for the preseason WNIT because
the attendance figures play a role in determining whether Purdue will
host the third and fourth rounds of the tournament, should the team
make it that far.
Fans that attend the women’s
basketball game against Eastern Michigan at 5 p.m. will be able to attend
the volleyball match against No. 8 Minnesota at 7 p.m. in the Intercollegiate
Athletic Facility for free.
Volleyball coach Jeff Hulsmeyer
said that he and his team will watch some of the basketball game before
getting ready for its match.
"I think our women’s
basketball team certainly has generated a lot of excitement, not only
with their success over the last few years, but with this great young
recruiting class joining a nucleus of solid veterans," he said.
"So I’m excited to also get a chance to watch them play. I
think it’s just going to be a great day for women’s athletics
here at Purdue."
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