The Western Kentucky women’s basketball team will face a big challenge in its first game of the 2021-22 season.

The Lady Toppers open the regular season against Big Ten foe Purdue at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

“I love it. I love the challenge,” WKU sophomore guard Hope Sivori said at the team’s media day. “I love that coach (Greg) Collins has faith in us and we’re ready. We are. Every day we work hard to beat our next competition, so I’m excited.”

The two teams met just two seasons ago but look drastically different heading into this year’s contest.

The Boilermakers claimed a 67-50 win in West Lafayette, Ind., in 2019 in what was the third meeting between the two teams and the first in 42 years. Despite the recency of the latest game between the two programs, only a combined four players remain from that game – Purdue’s Cassidy Hardin, Roxane Makolo and Rickie Woltman and WKU’s Meral Abdelgawad.

Purdue will have a new head coach as well, as Katie Gearlds takes over leading the Boilermakers. The former All-American at Purdue was hired as an associate head coach March 26 and was elevated to head coach Sept. 16. She spent eight years coaching NAIA Marian, where she won two national championships and was the NAIA National Coach of the Year three times.

Like WKU, the Boilermakers enter the year with a mix of returning and incoming talent. Purdue returns 47.5% of its scoring from the 2020-21 season, which it finished with a 7-16 record – the same mark as the Lady Toppers.

Senior guard Brooke Moore leads the returning scorers after averaging 12.1 points per game last year, while Madison Layden brings back the second-most with 8.7 per game. Purdue brought in six new players – half being freshmen and half transfers. The transfers included Jeanae Terry from Illinois and Abbey Ellis from Cal Poly, who both started in the Boilermakers’ exhibition win over Findlay. Ellis scored nearly 1,000 points over two seasons at Cal Poly, and Terry appeared in 53 games with 34 starts at Illinois, averaging 8.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists in her career, including 10.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game last season.

“I think with the learning curve of us still trying to figure out what we can be really good at, us as a staff are trying to do the same thing – who fits with who – but we have to do a good job of putting them in the right spots and trying to take advantage of them, their strengths and hide their weaknesses until we can make their weaknesses a strength,” Gearlds said after her team’s exhibition. “We’re learning.

“I don’t know what it looks like against Western Kentucky. I know if you look at the box scores at Marian, I went deep into my bench and we’re going to keep working and keep grinding. At the pace we want to play, for us to keep that up we’re going to have to go probably deep into our bench. We’ll figure out a rotation.”

WKU returns five players from last season, including starters in Abdelgawad and Hope Sivori, and brought in seven new players. Head coach Greg Collins said all 12 will play with the team’s new up-tempo style this season.

The Lady Toppers will travel to Manhattan, Kan., following the season opener to play in the Preseason WNIT. There, WKU is scheduled to face North Carolina A&T, Kansas State and UT Martin.

“I want to come out of the gate with challenges right off the bat,” Collins said at the team’s media day. “ … We turn around and play a great Purdue team here at home, which will be great for our fans. Then we have one day and we’ll hit the road and we’ll play in the Preseason WNIT.

“ … Those first four games are great challenges and it’ll be a big challenge for this young team, but I know they’re excited for it, I know they’re preparing for it every day and I know that we’ll be ready for it.”

PURDUE (0-0) AT WESTERN KENTUCKY (0-0)

6:30 p.m. Wednesday/E.A. Diddle Arena

Probable starters

PURDUE

• Nyagoa Gony, f, 6-2, sr. (0.3 ppg, 0.3 rpg); Cassidy Hardin, g, 5-10, sr. (2.8 ppg, 1.2 rpg); Jeanae Terry, g, 5-11, jr. (10.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg)+; Abbey Ellis, g, 5-6, jr. (15.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg)%; Madison Layden, g, 6-1, so. (8.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg).

WESTERN KENTUCKY

• Gabby McBride, f, 6-2, r-fr. (n/a); Hope Sivori, g, 5-5, so. (9.6 ppg, 4.2 apg); Alexis Mead, g, 5-5, fr. (n/a), Meral Abdelgawad, g, 5-11, sr. (10.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg); Teresa Faustino, g, 5-9, so. (0.0 ppg, 0.2 rpg)%5E.

Television

ESPN+

Radio

ESPNKY 102.7 FM

Coaches

Katie Gearlds (0-0, first year; 228-50 overall), Purdue; Greg Collins (49-38, fourth year; 49-38 overall), WKU.

Series record

WKU leads the series 2-1 (Purdue won the last meeting 67-50 on Dec. 18, 2019, at Mackey Arena).

Last time out

Purdue won 89-64 against Findlay at home on Sunday; WKU won 112-72 against West Virginia State at home on Nov. 3.

• 2020-21 stats at current school

%5E2020-21 stats at Oregon State

+2020-21 stats at Illinois

%2020-21 stats at Cal Poly{&end}