Big Ten Women's Basketball Preview: No. 12 Purdue, No. 11 Penn State

Two teams who lost a lot of players, but retained their cores

This is the second of what will be a series of previews for all 14 teams in the Big Ten heading into the 2021-22 season. These first two weeks will have a pair of teams, while my projected top 10 will each get their own individual day. I am doing this more so to be done before November rather than as a slander to the bottom four.

Here is last week’s preview of No. 14 Wisconsin and No. 13 Illinois

While I think that both Wisconsin and Illinois have potential to make strides this season, I think these next two teams truly could surprise and get into the middle of the conference standings. The Big Ten is brimming with talent, and some teams just have to fall toward the bottom.

The easy picks, of course, are the teams that finished 11th and 12th last season. I am not just following last year’s standings, I swear, but I do think Penn State and Purdue are the next up, just because they each lost a lot of players and the core players that they do have are still developing to become potential future stars.

Again, these are teams that very well could get to the 7-8 range in the conference, but I think the safe bet is to expect more of the same from them, at least for one more season.

Purdue

Last year’s record: 4-14 Big Ten | 7-16 Overall

Unlike the Badgers and Illini below them, Purdue is not used to this level of performance from its women’s basketball team.

The Boilermakers finished the 2020-21 campaign with their worst record since head coach Sharon Versyp took over in 2006. That is likely the reason why Versyp, who has led Purdue to 301 wins in her 15 seasons, is doing one last dance, leaving the program in the hands of former star and current associate head coach Katie Geralds at the end of the 2021-22 season.

"I have been blessed to realize my dream of coaching at my alma mater," Versyp said. "It has been the honor of my life to lead the Boilermakers and be an ambassador for this great university."

Having one last go at bringing the Boilermakers back to an elite level that they once were did play into my thoughts that Purdue could have a better-than-expected year, but that would also be going against what happened with the roster in the transfer portal this offseason.

The losses of Kayana Traylor, Fatou Diagne and Karissa McLaughin – who averaged 13.1 points per game in 2019-20, but was limited last year due to injury – are massive, there’s no real way around it. Traylor, a second-team All-Big Ten member, was this team’s star last year, while McLaughin was one of Purdue’s best scorers in her last healthy campaign. Diagne is also an incredibly solid center that is not easily replaced.

But, fresh faces could be what the Boilermakers need. Last season, Purdue was 12th in scoring offense (66.2 PPG) and 10th in scoring defense (73.5 PPG) in the Big Ten, combining for the 11th-best scoring margin (minus-7.3). The team was also bad at controlling the turnover battle, allowing the second-most turnovers (17.3 per game) while forcing just 13.5 on the defensive side.

There was just not much in the way of a bright spot for this team, and, for as much good as she did, Traylor did turn the ball over three times a game last season, second-most on the team. The most was another departure, Tamara Farquhar, who had more turnovers than Traylor (71 to 69) in 152 less minutes of play.

For as much as Purdue loses, it also brings some important names back, including a potential future star in Madison Layden.

Layden was third on the Boilermakers in scoring during her true freshman season, and was also tops in steals, second in assists and fifth in rebounds. The do-it-all-guard also shot an impressive 40.5 percent from three, finishing with 45 makes from distance, eighth best in the conference.

She was a complimentary piece to both Traylor and Brooke Moore, a former Auburn transfer who also returns and should put up strong numbers. But the door is open for Layden to up the volume of her shots, and if she keeps the same level of efficiency, she should end up on an All-Big Ten team.

With no Diagne, Ra Shaya Kyle could also be in for a big bump in numbers. Kyle stands at 6-6 and had a solid enough first season at the collegiate level to expect some growth in year two.

There are also six new entries to the roster to replace the six that have departed.

As mentioned last week, Jeanae Terry is moving across the conference to join the Boilermakers. She, like Layden, can stuff the box score in a variety of ways, which should help make up for some major lost production.

Abbey Ellis and Mide Oriyomi are both intriguing transfers who put up strong numbers at mid-major programs. Ellis is yet another pick pocket that could add to a Purdue defense that, on paper, could make some serious amends in the turnover battle this year.

The player I am watching very closely is top 100 prospect Skye Williams. The Pickerington (Ohio) Central guard likely won’t start, but she should see some serious playing time off the bench and could be a difference-maker if Purdue were to overperform.

There is talent there for this team to utilize, but I also think Purdue, at best, lost about as much as it gained. I do think Layden has the opportunity to break out this year and lead this team closer to .500 in the Big Ten, but that is about the ceiling that I see for Versyp’s last season at the helm of her alma mater.

Penn State

Last year’s record: 6-13 Big Ten | 9-15 Overall

Earlier this decade, Penn State was consistently an NCAA Tournament team, but that has been lost in recent years, and the Lady Lions (their name not mine) now find themselves trying to rebuild from the ground up.

Carolyn Krieger took over a, um, bad team in 2019 and Penn State won just 1 of 18 conference games. Last year was certainly an improvement, with the Lady Lions going a more-respectable 6-13 in conference.

That number is even more impressive considering the roster, which was comprised of eight freshmen. They played like they had eight freshmen, which is to say that Penn State was incredibly streaky. Four straight victories in late Jan. to early Feb. was met with losses in 8 of 9 to end the season, with the lone win being against a ranked Ohio State that was, at that point, tumbling into a black hole with no postseason to play for.

The Lady Lions had an adequate offense, eighth in the Big Ten (72.5 PPG), that was met with a less adequate defense (12th, 76.0 PPG). Where they won games was behind the arc. Penn State shot 34.1 percent from deep, fifth in the Big Ten, and made 194 threes on the season, third best in the conference.

A lot of that prowess from three should continue into this upcoming season thanks to those who are returning to Penn State’s roster.

Jekot played just nine games last season due to injury, but was Penn State’s clear primary option on offense when she did play. She wasn’t all that efficient (39.4 FG%, 25.0 3PT%), so there is plenty of room to grow past what she did in limited action last year.

Makenna Marisa had a tremendous second year with the Lions, improving her game everywhere, but especially as a facilitator. Her 5.0 assists per game was fifth best in the Big Ten, and was a big reason why Penn State’s offense found a bit of a rhythm.

As with many freshmen, Maddie Burke did not show remarkable efficiency. But she was by no means a slouch, connecting on 35.4 percent of her 164 three-point attempts. That should only look to go up in year two. On the other end, Tova Sabel showed remarkable efficiency from deep as a true freshman (45.8 percent), but just needs to shoot it more (48 three-point attempts) in her sophomore season.

But these are all pluses for what was a remarkably young Penn State team, who competed above expectations despite its veteran star going down with an injury early on. Why are the Lions only ranked 11th? Well…

A whopping eight departures this offseason does not help the cause. The big ones are clear: Johnasia Cash and Niya Beverley, two major contributors who, to my knowledge, are both in the transfer portal but without a landing spot.

Cash was on the All-Big Ten second team, nearly averaged a double-double and was Penn State’s most consistent threat all year long. Beverley was a strong playmaker and defender who also found an impressive stroke from three.

Again, eight names does not look good, but four of these names didn’t even play a full season with the amount of total games played. Nyam Thornton and Nan Garcia contributed, certainly, but are not core members of the team from last season.

What does hurt, though, is that of the eight players leaving, five of them are freshman, That is 62.5 percent of the massive class the Lady Lions brought in last season as the start of a rebuild. So, who’s coming in to pick up the pieces and keep the rebuild going?

Penn State, I think smartly, wanted to continue to bring in younger talent, and so it brought in two transfers with just one season of college experience. Ali Brigham used that one year to her advantage, putting up some strong numbers at George Washington that could translate over due to the depleted roster.

Alli Campbell got less of a chance at Notre Dame, but she is also a former five-star out of Altoona, Penn. and could be in for a big surge in production with some extended minutes.

With just 11 players on the Lions’ current roster, both Kayla Thomas and Ymke Brouwer could be in for some sizable minutes. But Thomas has won two district championships in high school and Brouwer has national team experience from Switzerland, so they both should be prepared for the big moment.

Penn State had an offseason where it seemed to lose almost everything, but in fact didn’t lose the most important thing: its core. Jekot, Marisa, Burke and Sabel all stayed through the chaos, and the Lady Lions even added a pair of strong transfers to help wrap the wounds.

Is this a brand new rebuild, or can Penn State use some of that momentum from last season into 2021-22? The answer is likely somewhere in the middle, but not all hope is lost for Krieger’s team, both this year and in the future. Being able to say that after more than half the team transfers out should be good enough to be considered optimistic.

Next week, it will be the No. 10 ranked team for the Big Ten preview. Before that, I will have a new post on a random topic for you this Thursday.

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