Purdue Women's Basketball Goes Through Early-Morning ROTC Training
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Coach Katie Gearlds wanted her players to step outside of their comfort zones with the 2025-26 women's college basketball season creeping closer. Purdue went through some unique training this week, which tested the Boilermakers mentally and physically.
The Purdue women's basketball team went through an early-morning training session with the Purdue Army ROTC this week. The goal was to test the team physically and mentally, as well as develop communication and leadership skills.
On Tuesday, the Purdue women's basketball team's social media team posted a video of the training session. It looked like a pretty intense workout.
Communication 🤝 Leadership
— Purdue Women's Basketball (@PurdueWBB) September 9, 2025
Thank you to the Purdue Army ROTC for having us out for an early morning workout! pic.twitter.com/hvaWycxrXB
Purdue is coming off a tough 2024-25 campaign, finishing with a 10-19 record. But the Boilermakers have a lot of new faces on the roster and are hopeful to get things headed in the right direction this coming season.
The first time the Boilermakers return to the court will be Monday, Oct. 27, when they host Purdue Northwest in an exhibition game. The regular-season opener is set for Monday, Nov. 3, hosting Fairleigh Dickinson at Mackey Arena.
Purdue women's basketball 2025-26 roster
With the start of the season less than two months away, here's a look at Purdue's roster for the 2025-26 season. Only three players from last year's team return: Lana McCarthy, Kendall Puryear, and McKenna Layden. Madison Layden-Zay returns to the progam after missing last year.
- #2 Taylor Henderson, 5-foot-11 junior guard
- #3 Nya Smith, 5-foot-9 sophomore guard
- #5 Taylor Feldman, 5-foot-8 senior guard
- #8 Hila Karsh, 5-foot-8 freshman guard
- #11 McKenna Layden, 6-foot-2 junior forward
- #13 Saige Stahl, 6-foot-1 junior forward
- #22 Kendall Puryear, 6-foot-3 sophomore forward
- #23 Kiki Smith, 5-foot-7 junior guard
- #33 Madison Layden-Zay, 6-foot-1 fifth-year senior
- #35 Lana McCarthy, 6-foot-4 sophomore forward
- #44 Tara Daye, 5-foot-10 junior guard
- #55 Avery Gordon, 6-foot-7 freshman forward
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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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