Purdue offers tough test

~ The Redhawks finish their nonconference schedule on the road.

The first of two straight games against nationally acclaimed opponents resulted in a lopsided loss for the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team.

Southeast coach John Ishee and his players hope things go better today when they face Purdue in a 1 p.m. tipoff in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Redhawks are coming off Thursday's 81-51 home defeat to 10th-ranked Baylor.

"They were really a great basketball team," Ishee said.

Southeast is 4-3 after suffering its third consecutive loss.

Purdue is 2-4 and has lost four straight -- all by at least 12 points -- although two of the defeats were against top-10 squads North Carolina and Duke.

"We'll get their best shot," Ishee said. "They've lost four in a row. ... They'll be champing at the bit. They'll be glad to play at home."

While the Boilermakers currently aren't ranked, they were last week.

And Purdue has been a consistent fixture in the national polls in recent years.

The Boilermakers went 31-6, won the Big Ten Conference tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight last season.

Purdue was hampered in the offseason by two key injuries, which left the Boilermakers with one returning starter from last year.

Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton, Purdue's top returning scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker who was last season's Big Ten defensive player of the year, suffered a knee injury over the summer. She won't play this year.

And Jodi Howell, Purdue's top 3-pointer shooter, suffered a shoulder injury. The earliest she could return is January, and she also might miss the entire season.

Still, Ishee knows the Boilermakers will be formidable, particularly because of their size.

Purdue starts a pair of 6-foot-4 players in juniors Danielle Campbell and Natasha Bogdanova, along with 6-1 junior Lakisha Freeman.

Freeman leads the Boilermakers in scoring at 13.7 points per game, while Campbell averages 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Bogdanova also has been solid with averages of 9.8 points and 5.8 rebounds.

"They're struggling some right now against very good competition, but they'll still be a very formidable opponent for us," Ishee said. "We'll have to play better than we did against Baylor for longer stretches."

Like Southeast, Purdue has struggled with its shooting, hitting 36.7 percent from the field overall and 31 percent from 3-point range.

The Redhawks are shooting 35 percent from the floor, including 27.8 percent from beyond the arc.

Ishee remains confident Southeast's shooting will come around.

"I think we've got good shooters and I believe we'll start shooting the ball a lot better," Ishee said.

Today marks Southeast's final tuneup before beginning defense of its Ohio Valley Conference title.

The two-time defending OVC regular-season and tournament champion Redhawks open league play Thursday at home against Tennessee State, followed by a Saturday home game with Tennessee Tech.

"The Baylor game and this game help prepare us for league play," Ishee said. "Hopefully we'll be better off for facing this type of competition."

His players are certain of that.

"I think it will give us confidence. Playing this type of competition will get us ready," junior forward Rachel Blunt said.

Added junior point guard Tarina Nixon: "It will help us prepare. We're not going to see anything [in league play] that we haven't seen."