Through Purdue’s first two games this season, the Boilermakers’ offensive numbers are, well, offensive.
The Boilermakers (0-2), who lost to Maine and Villanova to open the season, are shooting only 35.4 percent, including 29.2 percent from three-point range. Their 34 total field goals are only two higher than their turnovers total.
Purdue is averaging only 45.5 points per game.
It’s been ugly, to say the least.
“We need to No. 1 be more poised,” junior Andreona Keys said before practice Tuesday. “We need people who want to score and dominate in that category. Our scorers, we didn’t do that, so that means the rest of the team is going to be stagnant and kind of shook up and scared. So if we are aggressive on offense, we run our plays, we don’t be robotic but … look for different things, we can get it going a lot more.”
Purdue needs its veterans, in particular, to step up offensively. Keys has hit only 2-of-11 field goals (18.2 percent), and it’s only 2-of-7 (28.6) for senior Bridget Perry and 2-of-10 (20) for sophomore Dominique McBryde. Senior Ashley Morrissette is averaging 11.5 points per game, tied for the team-high with freshman Dominique Oden, but she has hit less than 40-percent of her field goals. In fact, only three players are shooting better than 33.3 percent: Morrissette (39.1), Oden (47.4) and Ae’Rianna Harris (50).
“Every single veteran who has played many minutes, they should be playing consistent and bringing something,” said Coach Versyp, whose team plays USC-Upstate (2-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday. “You shouldn’t have to rely on freshmen, they should be bringing pieces to the puzzle, but when you’re got seniors, juniors and a (sophomore) who have played a lot of minutes, they need to be the leaders, they have to show the way. And then when they do that, everything comes together.”
The Boilermakers’ offense is bogging down in the half court, perhaps in part because it’s adjusting to not having a solidified point guard situation. Morrissette has started there the first two games, but has only one assist and six turnovers. Sophomore Tiara Murphy has three assists in 37 minutes off the bench, but has made only one field goal in six attempts.
Purdue would like to push the tempo, which could result in easier looks and less time running a half-court offense.
“We have to push the tempo, after dead balls, made baskets, missed baskets,” Murphy said. “We have to push it up the floor. That’s our better game, when we’re moving more and when the point guard has the ball in her hands and is bringing it down the floor fast. That makes everyone else move and that’s our best game right now. We have to know that and start pushing the ball.”
The Boilermakers, Versyp said, had been doing so in practice, a reason why she had felt good about the offense in the preseason. But it went away vs. Maine and Villanova, a couple of opponents that sat in zones and forced Purdue into a half-court games in which it settled for jumpers.
“We need to push the ball a lot more,” Versyp said. “We’ve asked that, we’ve done it in practice, it’s all we talk about. And then we walk the ball up the floor.
“Those are the things we have to change. We need to up the tempo on made field goals, missed field goals. Our 5s have to do better running the floor, we didn’t do that, so it’s hard to push the ball down. And our point guards aren’t doing the job.”
But Purdue is still going to have to run an offense at times and the Boilermakers will need to be less timid, as Murphy called them, than in the first two games.
“We’ve got to be physical and not just run through the plays,” Versyp said. “Everyone has to be a threat, because we do have a variety of scorers and we’ve seen that. … Nobody was a threat except for Dominique Oden and Ashley, and I mean that in a guard spot. You have to come off a screen and know that you’re creating for yourself and others, then go to the next option, then the next option.”
Against Upstate, Purdue will face a guard-heavy team that has scored, averaging 74 points per game, although against lesser competition. It beat Presbyterian 55-48 on Monday.
Regardless, the Boilermakers know they need to reset before the season is lost early.
“We have no choice,” Keys said. “Being 0-2, that’s not the start we wanted. We wanted to be 2-0. But 1-1 after the first game, when we all played horribly, it was realistic to be 1-1, but we didn’t get that either. So we have our game Thursday and another on Sunday (vs. Southern Illinois), and then leave for Cancun with games there, so we have to hit the reset button, because if we hold on to this, it’s not going to be good for the rest of our season.”
• Purdue will be without Bree Horrocks for Thursday’s game and the rest of the season.
The junior center will have surgery on her right knee, forcing her to seek a medical redshirt. It leaves the Boilermakers with 6-foot-6 sophomore Nora Kiesler and 6-1 freshman Harris in the post, but McBryde could slid to the 5 if needed, even though she’s undersized.
“They’ve got to get in and make a difference,” Versyp said of the group.
