WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The 2009-10 Purdue women’s basketball non-conference schedule features seven homes games, including four contests in Mackey Arena to start the season.

“We’re gearing up for another exciting year,” Purdue head coach Sharon Versyp said. “We know that Mackey Arena is one of the toughest basketball venues in the country thanks to our fans, so we’re thrilled to be playing a total of seven home non-conference games plus an exhibition contest in West Lafayette. Of course, we can’t play all our games at home and we will cover the West Coast and the East Coast with two games in California followed by the Big Ten/ACC Challenge game at Virginia. We feel like we have put together a non-conference schedule that will be good for our team and for our fans.”

FahKara Malone is one of three seniors on the 2009-2010 squad.

The first opportunity to see seniors FahKara Malone, Jodi Howell and Laura Garriga in action this season is in Purdue’s sole exhibition game Nov. 8 against Lindsey Wilson College, an NAIA school from Columbia, Ky.

The Boilermakers open the regular season Nov. 15 in Mackey Arena when they take on Western Illinois.

Coach Versyp and her team will compete three consecutive days when they play host to the BTI Classic, a round-robin event Nov. 20 to 22. Purdue will face Seattle at 5:30 p.m. ET on Nov. 20, followed by Dayton vs. Georgetown at approximately 8 p.m. The Boilermakers play the Flyers at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 21 while Seattle and Georgetown face off at 8 p.m. and in the final day of competition, Purdue goes up against Georgetown and Seattle plays Dayton. Game times for Sunday are yet to be determined.

“The opportunity to host a three-day tournament is outstanding,” Versyp said. “It is a great way to prepare our team for the rigors of the postseason and to be able to play those games at home is an added benefit.”

After the four-game home stand, the women will play four non-conference road games. The Boilermakers first head to California over the Thanksgiving break to play at UC-Riverside on Nov. 27, followed by Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif., on Nov. 29. An interesting note, current Purdue president France A. Córdova was chancellor of UC-Riverside from 2002 to 2007 before moving to West Lafayette.

Next up is the Big Ten/ACC Challenge contest at Virginia on Dec. 3. The Boilermakers are looking to pick up their first victory in the Challenge since it was resumed in 2007.

The final non-conference road game of the regular season is Dec. 13 at Oakland in Rochester, Mich.

The Boilermakers return to the friendly confines of Mackey Arena on Dec. 19 when they play host to Evansville and will play a final game before the holiday with a Dec. 21 matchup at home against Gardner-Webb. The Runnin’ Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb are a member of the Big South Conference and are located in Boiling Springs, N.C.

Purdue’s final non-conference game of the regular-season is against instate rival Notre Dame on Jan. 4 in West Lafayette, Ind.

In addition to the non-conference contests, the Boilermakers will play 18 Big Ten regular-season games and the full schedule is expected to be released in late August. The Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament returns to Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on March 4 to 7, 2010.

Season tickets go on sale beginning at 9 a.m. Aug. 3. Complete game times and the television schedule will be announced at a later date and all dates, times and opponents are subject to change.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -– State Sen. Ron Alting (R-Lafayette) will present the Purdue University men’s and women’s basketball teams today with Senate Concurrent Resolutions honoring their successful seasons.

The Boilermaker men made history with their first Big Ten Tournament Championship this year, beating Ohio State Buckeyes 65-61 after trailing by five at halftime. Purdue also defeated Penn State and Illinois on the way to the final game.

Boilermaker men made history with their first Big Ten Tournament Championship this year, beating Ohio State Buckeyes 65-61 after trailing by five at halftime.

“This is one of the most determined teams I’ve seen out of West Lafayette,” Alting said. “Injuries, illness and a couple of bad games couldn’t keep these players down, so they were very deserving of the big win.”

This year’s championship played a role in helping Purdue enter the NCAA tournament as the number five seed in the West Regional, according to Alting. For the first time since 2000, the Boilermakers advanced in the national tournament to the Sweet Sixteen.

Men’s head coach Matt Painter is in his fourth season at Purdue and was named 2008 Big Ten Coach of the Year. Painter and his team contributed to Purdue’s claim on the record for most wins in the Big Ten Tournament Championship and becoming the only Big Ten School with winning records against every basketball program in the conference.

“Both the men and women’s teams showed the entire state what can happen when team work is the focus,” Alting said.

Women’s head coach Sharon Versyp is in her third season in Lafayette and she led her team to a second place finish in the Big Ten Tournament. Purdue’s Women’s Basketball team was one of only three Big Ten teams to move on to this year’s national tournament. The Boilermaker women advanced to the Elite Eight.

“Indiana is a state known for its love for basketball,” Alting said. “Purdue Boilermakers are carrying on a Hoosier tradition with both teams giving impressive showings on the national level.”

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Big Ten announced this season’s conference awards Monday evening and five Purdue women’s basketball players were honored.

For the second time in her career, Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton was named first team All-Big Ten by the coaches and the media and for the third time is a member of the All-Defensive team. Wisdom-Hylton was one of two unanimous selections by the coaches to the first team. The senior forward finished the regular season ranked second in the Big Ten in both rebounding and steals, averaging 9.1 boards and 2.6 steals per game. Wisdom-Hylton also ranked in the top-10 in scoring and field goal percentage, averaging 12.8 points per game on 49.2 percent shooting. She leads the team in scoring and rebounding, is tied for the team lead in blocks averaging 1.6 per game, and is second in assists and steals.

Brittany Rayburn became the second Boilermaker in four years to earn Sixth Player of the Year.

Freshman Brittany Rayburn received the Sixth Player of the Year award and was named to the All-Freshman team after averaging nine points per game, second among Big Ten freshman. The Attica, Ind. native also ranked in the top-four among conference freshman in steals (1.1) and assists (1.6) per game.

Lakisha Freeman was named third team All-Big Ten by the coaches and picked up an honorable mention by the media along with teammates Danielle Campbell and FahKara Malone. Freeman is Purdue’s second-leading scorer, averaging 11.2 points per game. Campbell finished in a tie for the team lead in blocked shots and second in team rebounding, swatting 1.6 per game and pulling down 221 rebounds, an average of 7.6 boards per game. Malone earned her second career honorable mention All-Big Ten award and did so despite missing half of the conference season due to injury. The 5-foot-3 point guard is averaging 7.5 points, 2.6 steals and a team-best 4.6 assists per game.

Wisdom-Hylton was also selected as Purdue’s recipient of the conference’s Sportsmanship Award.
Ohio State took home four of the conference’s major awards. Jantel Lavender was named Player of the Year and head coach Jim Foster was named Coach of the Year by both the coaches and the media. The Buckeyes’ Shavelle Little was tabbed as the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, as well as a member of the All-Defensive Team and Samantha Prahalis was named Freshman of the Year and is an All-Freshman team member.

Purdue (20-9, 13-5) finished the Big Ten regular season in a tie with Michigan State and Iowa for second place and has earned the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. The Boilermakers will defend their 2007 and 2008 tournament titles by taking on the winner of Thursday’s matchup between No. 6 seed Indiana and No. 11 seed Michigan at approximately 2 p.m. ET on Friday, March 6 in Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.

All-session ($65) and single-session ($12-16) tickets for the 2009 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament are still available and can be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets, including the Conseco Fieldhouse box office, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone numbers and ticketmaster.com.