Purdue Women's Basketball 2025-26 Big Ten Schedule Released — 3 Observations
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The Purdue women's basketball team now has its complete schedule for the 2025-26 season. On Thursday, the Big Ten unveiled the conference slate for the upcoming year, getting us one step closer to the start of the season.
The Big Ten is loaded from top to bottom, making it one of the best leagues in women's college basketball. Purdue will have its work cut out for it. Here are three observations from the schedule release on Thursday.
Getting off to a good start
Purdue has the opportunity to get off to a solid start before entering Big Ten play against Michigan. The Boilermakers will have eight games under their belts before a road trip to Ann Arbor on Dec. 7. Their toughest test in that stretch is a road trip to Kentucky on Nov. 18.
It's a much more manageable non-conference slate than Purdue had a year ago and gives the team an opportunity to gain confidence and momentum before entering Big Ten play. There's a good chance the Boilers are 7-1 or better heading into that first conference game.
January is the toughest month
Why is it imperative for Purdue to get off to a strong start? The month of January is going to be tough. The Boilermakers begin the month by playing four of five games on the road, making trips to Nebraska (Jan. 4) and Wisconsin (Jan. 8) before a quick stop back in West Lafayette to host Washington.
Then, the Boilers head to California for games against USC (Jan. 18) and UCLA (Jan. 21), the top two teams in the league a season ago. Purdue closes out the month with home games against Indiana (Jan. 25) and Michigan State (Jan. 29).
How will Purdue respond to that incredibly tough stretch in January?
Sunday Funday
This may be a bit of an odd observation, but Purdue has an awful lot of Sunday games on the schedule this year. Of the 29 games the Boilermakers will play during the regular season, 14 will be played on Sundays.
Does that feel like a high number to anyone else? It doesn't really impact anything substantially; it was just an interesting observation when running down the schedule.
At least it gave me an excuse to use "Sunday Funday" in a story.
Purdue 2025-26 women's basketball schedule
- Monday, Oct. 27 — vs. Purdue Northwest (exhibition)
- Monday, Nov. 3 — vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
- Thursday, Nov. 6 — vs. Eastern Illinois
- Wednesday, Nov. 12 — at Purdue Fort Wayne
- Tuesday, Nov. 18 — at Kentucky
- Sunday, Nov. 23 — vs. Miami (Ohio)
- Wednesday, Nov. 26 — vs. Howard
- Sunday, Nov. 30 — at Central Michigan
- Wednesday, Dec. 3 — vs. Evansville
- Sunday, Dec. 7 — at Michigan
- Thursday, Dec. 11 — vs. Lipscomb
- Sunday, Dec. 14 — vs. Dayton
- Sunday, Dec. 21 — vs. Jackson State
- Sunday, Dec. 28 — vs. Illinois
- Wednesday, Dec. 31 — vs. Ohio State
- Sunday, Jan. 4 — at Nebraska
- Thursday, Jan. 8 — at Wisconsin
- Sunday, Jan. 11 — vs. Washington
- Sunday, Jan. 18 — at USC
- Wednesday, Jan. 21 — at UCLA
- Sunday, Jan. 25 — vs. Indiana
- Thursday, Jan. 29 — vs. Michigan State
- Sunday, Feb. 1 — at Minnesota
- Wednesday, Feb. 4 — vs. Penn State
- Sunday, Feb. 8 — at Indiana
- Saturday, Feb. 14 — vs. Rutgers
- Thursday, Feb. 19 — vs. Iowa
- Sunday, Feb. 22 — at Maryland
- Wednesday, Feb. 25 — vs. Oregon
- Sunday, March 1 — at Northwestern
Related stories on Purdue women's basketball
GEARLDS SAYS 2025-26 TEAM 'BUILT DIFFERENT': Purdue women's basketball coach Katie Gearlds is excited about this year's team, saying the new group is "built a little different." CLICK HERE
PURDUE WBB GOES THROUGH ROTC TRAINING: With the 2025-26 women's basketball season creeping closer, Purdue went through some ROTC training early in the morning to get out of its comfort zone. CLICK HERE
4-STAR GUARD CONSIDERING PURDUE WBB: One of the top guards in the 2026 recruiting class has narrowed her list of options down to six schools. Purdue is still in the mix for the four-star talent. CLICK HERE
Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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