No. 16 Indiana Women's Basketball Plays Purdue Sunday to Keep Barn Burner Trophy

No. 16 Indiana women's basketball took care of Minnesota Wednesday night after getting blown out to Iowa. Next up for the Hoosiers is the annual Barn Burner Trophy Game against Purdue Sunday at Mackey Arena. The game will air on Peacock.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Following No. 16 Indiana women’s basketball's (14-2) return to the win column Wednesday, the Hoosiers travel to play Purdue (9-8) Sunday in the annual Barn Burner Trophy Game. The Boilermakers haven’t claimed the trophy since 2016, as Indiana has won the past nine straight games and 13 of the last 14.

The Boilermakers have lost their past three games to drop to 2-4 in the Big Ten standings and will be seeking their first win against a ranked team this season. Purdue was blown out by now-No. 5 UCLA, No. 19 Notre Dame, and No. 3 Iowa. Two of those were on the road, where the Boilermakers are just 1-5. They are 8-1 at home.

The starting lineups for Indiana and Purdue have some similarities. The Boilermakers returned four veterans, and the Hoosiers practically returned all five starters, four of which are vets. Each program also lost key guards in the offseason. Indiana’s Grace Berger was taken in the WNBA Draft, and her on-court stability and leadership were badly missed in Indiana’s two blowout losses this season. Purdue lost its leading-scorer from last season in Lasha Petree.

Petree combined for 36 points and eight threes in the two games against Indiana. In Petree’s place now, scoring-wise, is fifth-year guard Abbey Ellis, averaging about 14 points per game this season. Two others average about 11 points per game, fifth-year guard Madison Layden — shooting 48% beyond the arc — and sixth-year forward Caitlyn Harper. In two starts versus Indiana last season, Harper combined for fewer than 10 points. In those two games, Indiana’s current leading scorer, forward Mackenzie Holmes, had 36 points.

Holmes went 6-for-13 from the floor for 16 points at Iowa last weekend, then hit a season-high 32 points Wednesday against Minnesota with 15 made baskets. Though not projected to start Sunday afternoon, Purdue freshman Rashunda Jones — the 2023 Indiana Miss Basketball runner-up — had an outstanding performance in the team’s past game. Jones scored 23 points in the 80-67 loss at Penn State Thursday night. Indiana did just shut down Minnesota’s guards and will need to do the same against Purdue.

The Barn Burner Trophy Game tips-off at 2 p.m. ET at Mackey Arena and will air on Peacock.

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