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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 15 • 16 BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com T he Boilermakers took two of their first three in Big Ten play, winning their road opener at Illinois before splitting at home with Min- nesota and Indiana. Following are takeaways from the three games: S The Minnesota loss illustrates Purdue's slim margin for error this season. It simply isn't good enough offensively — its 39.4 percent shoot- ing ranks last in the Big Ten — to make up for lapses on defense. And against the Gophers, the Boiler- makers had plenty of lapses, giving up 48 points in the paint. But worse was those allowed in transi- tion, as Minne- s o t a was cred- ited for 10 f a s t b r e a k p o i n t s . Purdue, at times, just looked lazy in getting back. T h e Boilermak- ers, Sharon Versyp says, have to keep games in the 60s to have a chance to win, and breakdowns like they had against Min- nesota won't be good enough. Purdue was much better three days later, although against lesser opponent Indiana, holding the Hoo- siers without a transition point in the Boilermakers' victory. S Whitney Bays was excellent against IU in part because she al- lowed offense to come to her, rather than trying to force the issue. At times this season, the se- nior forward has tried to go a little more one-on-one than what Versyp would prefer, a tack that might result in points but also takes Purdue out of its offensive flow. But against the Hoosiers, Bays was quick with her decisions, either to take a shot or pass it off. And when she did the lat- ter, she frequently got the ball back in a better position. The result was a career-high 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting. S Bridget Perry might be the X factor for the Boilermakers, because when the sophomore wing is scor- ing, they're much better off for it. Perry put up a career-high 19 at Illinois and had 14 vs. Indiana, but between had only seven in the loss to Minnesota. She gives the Boilermakers an aggressive perimeter player who is able to break down defenses to get to the rim, not because of her quick- ness but because of her height. And it opens the offense for others. S Purdue continues to get little from its freshmen, outside of reserve Andreona Keys. Center Bree Horrocks and guard Justine Hall are playing minimal min- utes; forward Haley Bodnar remains out with injury; and now forward Er- ica Moore is suspended indefinitely. Keys is averaging 5.6 points per game in about 17.5 minutes. j W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L G O L D B O X E S L I N K T O G A M E S T O R I E S Tom Campbell Whitney Bays was excellent vs. Indiana, scoring a career-high 27. A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST WEEK OF BASKETBALL FLASH FORWARD Opponent: Maryland Location: Comcast Center When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday Notables: The Terrapins, ranked No. 12 in the country, are 11-2 overall, 2-0 in the Big Ten, after throttling No. 16 Nebraska in Lincoln 75-47 on Sunday. … Four average in double figures for Maryland, led by Laurin Mincy's 14.2 points per game. A balanced team, 11 Terrapins play at least 11.9 minutes per outing. … Maryland's points-per-game average of 84.2 leads the Big Ten, nearly three points higher than No. 2 Iowa. It's second in defense, too, allowing 57.5. … Purdue is 1-4 vs. Maryland, losing the last two. … Senior captain Whitney Bays started her career as a Terrapin before transferring to Purdue.