Absences hinder Boilers in three-game weekend
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 11/20/2009
sponsored by
The Purdue women’s basketball team didn’t expect to be as shorthanded as it is heading into a weekend with three games in as many days.
The Boilers (1-0) will be taking on Seattle University (0-2), Dayton University (1-1) and Georgetown University (1-1) Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively. All three games will be played in Mackey Arena for the BTI Classic.
When the Boilermakers host Seattle, they will only have eight available players. Sophomores Alex Guyton and Chantel Poston will be scratched from the lineup because of injury, and sophomore Sam Woods will sit out to finish off a two-game, NCAA-mandated suspension for playing in a scrimmage last season.
“When we put this tournament together, I figured I’d have 11 healthy bodies, you know, and that’s different,” head coach Sharon Versyp said. “It is what it is. Injuries come in college basketball.
“I thought with Chantel and Alex and everybody we had coming back, 11 people, you know, it would be a great situation, and it’s still a great situation. We’ve got a lot of young players that are getting a lot of playing time, and I’d rather figure those things out now than during the Big Ten season.”
For the games Saturday and Sunday, Woods will be available again, bringing the available Boilermaker player total to nine. Sophomore Brittany Rayburn is ready for her to be back.
“When she gets back, it’ll just complete our team again,” Rayburn said. “And to have her on the floor will be very helpful from a leadership standpoint and a player standpoint.”
According to Versyp, each team will bring something different for each of the Boilers’ games.
Seattle is shorthanded like the Boilers, but they play with a lot of hustle. Dayton is expected to play 10 or 11 players and wear the Boilers down by spreading the floor and crashing the boards. The Flyers already have a victory over Michigan State, which is picked to finish second in the Big Ten by most polls.
In the finale, Georgetown will use a 1-2-2 half-court trap to try and force the Boilers into turnovers. Versyp is thankful for the challenge.
“They’re three totally different, kind of contrasting teams, which is good,” Versyp said. “Because you’re going to have different lineups and see what works well, and we can go to that four-guard lineup, we can go a bigger lineup, you know, so I think this will be a great test for us.”
Traditionally, Purdue schedules these types of preseason tournaments for after Thanksgiving.
When asked if her team was prepared, Versyp said: “You think you think you prepare them, but you don’t know until the ball goes up.”
Friday and Saturday’s games will tip off at 5 p.m. and Sunday’s matchup starts at 4 p.m.