Women's Hoops Readies for Big Dance

WBB: #11 Purdue Takes on #11 St. John’s In First Four on Thursday

The women’s basketball team is set to return to the NCAA Tournament for the 27th time in program history and first since the 2017 edition on Thursday night when the 11th-seeded Boilermakers square off with 11th-seed St. John’s in the Seattle 3 Region First Four at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, at 7 p.m.

Sam Gore and Kim Adams will have the call on ESPN2. Tim Newton and Jane Schott make their return to the postseason for the Purdue Radio Network on 95.3 BOB FM.

The winner of Thursday’s First Four showdown will take on No. 6 seed North Carolina on Saturday at 4 p.m. Site host and No. 3 seed Ohio State plays No. 14 James Madison at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

GAME INFORMATION  
No. 11 Purdue (19-10) vs. No. 11 St. John’s (22-8)
Thursday, March 16
Time: 7 PM  
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 95.3 BOB FM  
Live Stats: NCAA.com

BACK IN THE DANCE
Purdue has a 47-25 all-time record in March Madness. Led by Carolyn Peck, the Boilermakers won the 1999 national title, the only women’s basketball championship earned by a Big Ten program. In addition to the championship, Purdue has reached two title games (2001 loss to Notre Dame), three Final Fours, eight Elite Eights and 12 Sweet 16s. Six Boilermakers have been named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team, including 1999 Most Outstanding Player Ukari Figgs. Eighteen players have garnered NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team honors, with Katie Gearlds garnering the laurel in 2007.

NOTES
• St. John’s edged Purdue 68-62 in the 2018 Paradise Jam, the lone prior matchup between the two clubs.
• Head coach Katie Gearlds joined Purdue legends Lin Dunn and Carolyn Peck as the only Boilermaker head coaches to improve Purdue’s win totals in each of their first two seasons in West Lafayette. Purdue was +10 last in 2020-21 and +2 this season.
• Jeanae Terry is one of three players (Caitlin Clark – Iowa, Olivia Miles – Notre Dame) to average six points, rebounds and assists in the nation this season. Terry is just the 13th player since 2009 to record 225 rebounds, 180 assists and 60 steals in a season.
• The transfer portal has benefited the Boilermakers this season as the four players who started their careers elsewhere – Petree, Harper, Ellis and Terry – have accounted for 60% of the team’s scoring, 50% of rebounds, 62% of assists and 59% of steals.
• Abbey Ellis has made her last 19 free throws and 36 of her last 37 to reach 91% at the line on the year, ranking eighth nationally.
• Purdue is 17-0 when holding a team to 65 points or fewer this season, while going 2-10 when giving up 66 points or more.
• Cassidy Hardin will play her 142nd career game on Thursday, the most by any Purdue men’s or women’s player in history.
• The Boilermakers have already won a game this season in Value City Arena. Purdue downed no. 2 Ohio State 73-65 for the program’s first AP top-5 win on the road.
• Abbey Ellis has finished in double figures in 15 games with four outings of 20 points or more.
• Caitlyn Harper is 1-of-6 players in the Big Ten averaging over 10 points per game while shooting 55% or better from the field.
• Cassidy Hardin postponed her start to medical school to return to Purdue for a final season with one goal in mind – to reach the NCAA Tournament.
• Jayla Smith’s game-winning 3-pointer against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament was spurred a career-high 16-point performance the next day against Iowa in the quarterfinals.

Boilermakers Ride Big Innings to Home-Opening Win

Paul Toetz, Jake Parr and Jake Jarvis teamed up for 11 RBI and Purdue baseball scored at least four times in three different innings, riding the extended rallies to a 14-5 victory vs. Northern Illinois on Wednesday in the home opener at Alexander Field.

The Boilermakers (9-7) scored four times in the bottom of the second and five times in both the fourth and seventh innings. Purdue sent nine men to the plate in the second and batted around two frames later. Jarvis hit a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh.

Toetz delivered an RBI hit in both big innings early – a two-out double in the second and two-run single in the fourth. Parr cleared the bases with a two-out, three-run double to punctuate the first five-run frame. Toetz was 3-for-4 with a walk and four RBI. He leads the Big Ten Conference with 27 RBI in 16 games.

Evan Albrecht connected for a two-run double in his first at-bat of the season at Alexander Field, opening the scoring and extending his on-base streak to 19 consecutive games dating back to last season. Albrecht finished the day with three hits and three runs scored, raising his average for the season back over .400. He’s batting over .600 in Purdue’s nine wins this year.

Jarvis hit the second grand slam of the season by a Boilermaker and the first at Alexander since Cam Thompson cleared the bases with a big fly in the 2021 home opener.

Thompson was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning to extend his on-base streak at home to 23 consecutive games dating back to last season. Jo Stevens beat out an infield hit in the third inning to extend his team-best hit streak to 12 consecutive games.

The Boilermakers are back in action Friday when they open a three-game series at Evansville. First pitch has been moved up to 4 p.m. ET.

Softball Splits Day in Starkville

The Boilermaker softball squad split the day in Starkville, picking up a 2-1 win over North Dakota State before falling to host Mississippi State, 1-5. With the day’s results, Purdue’s record moves to 12-9 on the season.

GAME ONE: Purdue 2, North Dakota State 1 

Purdue clinched the win over North Dakota with a home run from Alex Echazarreta in the bottom of the sixth inning. Echazarreta led the day, not only recording the game-winner, but also pitching a complete game in the process.

In the game, the Boilermakers registered seven total hits with a career-best three singles from Jordyn Ramos, two from Ryen Ross, and one from Tyrina Jones. Khloe Banks earned the first run for Purdue in the bottom of the fifth.

Echazarreta went the distance in the circle with three strikeouts and only allowing one run. The win advanced her record to 5-6 on the season.

Purdue and North Dakota State both remained scoreless until the fifth inning when North Dakota State took the lead with one run. Purdue responded at the bottom of the inning with a hit by Ramos, which batted in fellow freshman Banks to tie the game back up. The Boilermakers defense held North Dakota State to one run while a homerun from Echazarreta notched the 2-1 win.

GAME TWO: Purdue 0, Mississippi State 6 

After defeating North Dakota State, Purdue fell 1-5 to Mississippi State, dropping the Boilermakers record to 12-9 while the Bulldogs, a team receiving votes in the national polls, improved to 19-8.

Olivia McFadden earned the Boilermakers lone run in the fifth inning. The hit came in home run fashion and was the first of the season and second of the sophomore’s career.

Purdue produced two hits, with a single by Echazarreta joining McFadden’s homer.
 

Purdue’s defense held the Bulldogs scoreless in the first three innings, but the Boilermakers fell behind as the Bulldogs took a three-run lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Purdue responded in the fifth inning with a home run, but the Bulldogs earned two more runs, securing their lead. 

Alexa Pinarski (1-1) was tagged with the loss in her 3.1 innings pitched despite her one strikeout. Madi Elish, Mo Wimpee and Kendall Klochack all saw time in the circle with Mo Wimpee notching one strikeout.

Purdue will finish the week in Oxford, Mississippi for the Rebels Invitational. Tomorrow, Purdue will play two games: first another showdown vs. North Dakota State at 5 p.m. ET, followed by Samford at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Boilermakers will play two more games Friday and close the weekend with one game on Saturday.

4 Wrestlers Ready to Take on Tulsa

After a ninth place finish with four placewinners and four automatic qualifiers at the 2023 Big Ten Championships, Purdue Wrestling takes their squad to Tulsa for the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships in the BOK Center. 

PURDUE POINTS
• The lineup for the Boilermakers features sophomore Matt Ramos, graduate-student Parker Filius, senior Kendall Coleman and freshman Hayden Copass who are wrestling in the 125, 141, 157 and 285 pound brackets respectively. 
• It is the fourth trip to the national tournament for both Filius and Coleman, the second for Ramos and the first for Copass. 
• The team’s four entrants are a combined 31-22 against the field this season. 
• Ramos comes in as the No. 4 seed at 125. The fourth seed has finished on the podium in each of the last eight seasons and last won the title in 2017. 
• Filius and Coleman both checked in as the No. 12 seed in their weights. A double digit seed has wrestled to All-American status in each of the last three and eight of the last nine season at 141 and six of the last seven at 157. 
• Filius is the only qualifier from Montana. Purdue has three of the 33 qualifiers from Illinois. 
 • An extremely young program, the Boilermakers finished their dual season tied with Ohio State for the most freshman wrestled by any Big Ten program with 10. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• 31 – Matt Ramos has the most wins of anyone in his weight class at 125 pounds with 31. 
• 299 – Kendall Coleman is just one takedown away from the triple-cenutry mark for his career with 299. The number is good for ninth all-time. 
• 21 – Parker Filius has 21 wins on the year and is just two more victories away from setting a new single-season career high. 
• 4 – Coleman and Filius are the 15th and 16th Boilermakers in program history to be four-time NCAA qualifiers.
• 36 – Hayden Copass is the 36th freshman in program history to qualify for the national tournament, the eighth under Ersland.

LAST TIME OUT
Purdue Wrestling finished in ninth place at the 2023 Big Ten Wrestling Championships with 47 team points after earning four individual placements that all came with automatic qualification to Tulsa. 

Ramos led the charge for the Boilermakers with a third-place finish at 125 pounds. Filius took fifth in dramatic fashion after pulling off his highest ranked win in the final match, Coleman finished in sixth and Copass earned seventh on a hectic day in the Crisler Center.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR
At last season’s NCAA Championships, hosted in Detroit, Mich., at Little Caesars Arena, the Boilermakers had seven wrestlers and finished in 30th with 10.5 team points. 

Freshman Matt Ramos and senior Max Lyon had their Cinderella runs fall short of the podium, suffering losses in the Round of 12 to conclude the Boilermakers’ efforts at the national tournament. 

LIVIN ON TULSA TIME
While Tulsa has never played hosted to the NCAA tournament, the great state of Oklahoma has held it on 11 occasions. Most recently in 2014 in Ersland’s first season in charge.

The sooner state has facilitated success for the Boilermakers, with eight Purdue wrestlers earning All-American status in Oklahoma tournaments. Purdue’s most recent national champion Charles Jones earned his title in Oklahoma City in 1992. 

TITLE TYPE OF YEAR
It’s been quite the run for Matt Ramos over the last few months. He has claimed titles at the Southern Scuffle, Clarion Open and a freestyle title at the U.S. Open in addition to a runner-up finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

In those four tournaments, he is 17-1 with eight bonus point wins including four tech falls and three pins. He beat four ranked opponents along the way.

Vanos Finishes 11th at NCAA Championships

Fifth-year Johnny Vanos of the Purdue track & field team finished 11th overall in the weight throw at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Friday night.

Competing at his first NCAA Championships, Vanos earned Second Team All-America accolades. It is the first All-America honors of his collegiate career.

Vanos placed 11th overall with a throw of 21.88 meters, a mark that came on his first of three attempts. He entered the meet seeded No. 15 overall. The top 16 competitors in the country qualified for the championship meet, and the top nine throwers after three rounds advanced to the final.
A native of Forest, Ontario, Canada, Vanos qualified for the national championships after a silver-medal-winning performance at the Big Ten Championships on February 24. His throw of 22.12m ranks No. 2 in school history. Both the Big Ten medal and the NCAA berth is Vanos’ first, indoors or outdoors, in his five-year Boilermaker career.

Vanos was the first Boilermaker thrower to qualify for the indoor championships since 2019.

Up next for Vanos and Purdue is the outdoor track & field season, which commences in one week. The Boilermaker sprinters, jumpers and throwers will compete at the Hurricane Invitational from March 17-18 to conclude a week-long training trip in Miami, Florida. Meanwhile, Purdue’s distance runners will race at the Blizzard Buster in Oxford, Ohio, on March 17.