By Susan Harman

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa women’s basketball team fled Winter Storm Finn on Monday before the snow started to fly. And the Hawkeyes are probably lucky they did.

“We contacted the (charter) plane company and asked them what their thoughts were, and they said they did not think we’d get out (Tuesday),” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said.

Normally teams are required to get to the game site the day before to avoid these kinds of delays, so Wednesday was out. And the storm is headed toward West Lafayette so no assurances there.

“So that kind of made our decision a lot easier,” Bluder said. “Plus we’re not in school right now, so that helps. So, we’re going to practice at Purdue (Tuesday). It’s a little bit unusual, but I think this team can handle it. Plus, it’s very similar to what we did last week when we went to Rutgers.”

Iowa (15-1, 4-0) went in a day early at Rutgers so players could catch the sights and see a show in New York City before game day.

On Tuesday the Hawkeyes held a regular two-hour practice at Mackey Arena, which could help in adjusting to a site they haven’t seen for two years. They will also have their regular shootaround Wednesday before the 7 p.m. game, which is available on Peacock.

Purdue is 9-5 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten. The Boilers are 8-0 at Mackey, although it comes with a caveat. Rutgers had a layup at the buzzer to win but missed it. In terms of strength of schedule Purdue’s best home victory came early against Texas A&M, which is 24^th in the NCAA’s NET rankings. None of its other home opponents is in the top 100.

“This is a team that’s pretty balanced,” Bluder said. “They’re experienced; they’re starting four seniors. They have a very good center (6-3 Caitlyn Harper) who’s shooting about 60 percent, a veteran point guard (Janae Terry), and two exceptional shooters in (5-6) Abbey Ellis and (6-1) Madison Layden. So they pose a lot of matchup problems defensively.”

Harper, the center, is also shooting .375 behind the arc, but Layden leads the way with 35 threes and a 49 percent rate. Ellis averages 32 percent and has 19 threes. Purdue averages 6.6 made 3-pointers per game compared to Iowa’s 9.5. Bluder pointed out that 33 percent of Purdue’s shots were behind the arc. Iowa’s figure is 41 percent.

“We’ve got to take away the three ball because they are shooting 47 percent on strictly twos,’ Bluder said.

But scoring offense isn’t really Purdue’s signature. Defensively the Boilers lead the Big Ten in scoring defense, holding opponents to 62.2 points. Some of that can be attributed to pace of play. Iowa ran with ease last Friday against Rutgers in scoring 103 points, but the Scarlet Knights’ defense was anything but stellar. Purdue’s slower pace will limit possessions and scoring.

Bluder cited Terry, Ellis and Rashunda Jones, the first player off the bench, as leading the Boiler defense.

Iowa’s only Big Ten road games so far have been at Wisconsin and Rutgers, two teams at the bottom of the standings. This will be a different kind of road game, but Bluder thinks her players are up to the challenge that is the Big Ten road.

“I think it’s the maturity of the team. I think the loss to Illinois kind of stands out from last year in everybody’s mind, and it’s a good lesson,” Bluder said. “But I think it’s going to get a lot tougher (Wednesday). This place is a tough place to play. The band is right in your ear.

“I think it’s one of the best bands in the Big Ten. They’re very vocal. They do that whole chant thing where when it hits eight seconds on the shot clock and you have the ball, they start saying, ‘Three, two, one,’ so you throw up a bad shot. They’re really quite orchestrated, and that’s what makes it so difficult.

“They’ve sold it out. It’s a very loud venue, so I think this is going to be our hardest test on the road since Virginia Tech (which was in Charlotte, N.C.).”

At least until they try to return to Iowa City.