WEST LAFAYETTE − It’s Reagan Bass’ favorite part of the college basketball season.
The senior Purdue women’s basketball transfer from Akron doesn’t have to worry about testing or getting to classes.
It’s winter break and that means it’s just fun.
This also means the Big Ten slate is here and for the Boilermakers, it’s a brutal start to the conference season.
“Growing up, you always dream of playing in the Big Ten,” Bass said. “I have friends who play in this conference and now this is my reality.”
Having already lost a heartbreaker to a top-10 Maryland team, Purdue returns to league play Sunday at No. 22 Iowa in one of the loudest environments in sports. This is just the first of five straight ranked foes, including Maryland, with which Purdue opens Big Ten play.
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“We challenged ourselves, maybe too much, but at the same time we have a group that works in the gym and understands that the Big Ten is a marathon, not a sprint,” Purdue coach Katie said Gearlds. “The ultimate goal is to put ourselves in a position to be ready to go in January and February.”
The Boilermakers’ non-conference schedule included teams currently ranked second (South Carolina), fourth (Notre Dame) and 15th (Kentucky). In spurts, Purdue showed it could compete with two of them and also put Maryland on the ropes before fading late.
“Playing South Carolina and Kentucky, those ranked teams, in my opinion, prepared us for conference play,” transfer guard Destini Lombard said. “When I was recruited (in the transfer portal), that was my main goal, a team that would play against the best teams, the best competition, the best players. I wanted to challenge myself to play at a level superior during my last year of basketball.
Despite the non-conference challenge, the Boilermakers, perhaps wisely, have scheduled two major opponents before this next stretch.
Those wins over Miami (Ohio) and Indiana State provided an extra dose of confidence before returning to Big Ten play with a 7-5 record.
From now on, however, there are no more gimmicks.
Now, the Boilermakers hope to take advantage of the momentum shown well against some of the best teams in the country and extrapolate that through 17 games over the next two months.
“It’s a one-game-at-a-time mentality,” said Lombard, Purdue’s leading scorer. “We finish one game, then we prepare for the next one. Throughout this conference, our goal is to win, to advance to the tournament and to advance to the big ball.”
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
This article was originally published in the Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue women’s basketball set to resume Big Ten play in Iowa
