Welcome to the Big Ten, Lana McCarthy. The Purdue freshman had an impressive debut on Wednesday night, recording a double-double in her first career game with the Boilermakers.
McCarthy finished Wednesday’s game with 18 points and 10 rebounds, helping lead Purdue to an 87-77 victory over Purdue-Fort Wayne to start the year 1-0. She was also successful on eight-of-nine shot attempts from the floor in 22 minutes of action.
Sometimes, a freshman has those early-season jitters when taking the floor for the first time. McCarthy said last week’s exhibition game against Indiana Tech helped prepare her for the regular season opener.
“I think playing the exhibition game last week really helped me get comfortable playing in front of a crowd, playing in Mackey under the lights,” McCarthy said. “I wouldn’t say I had that many nerves coming into the game, I was just ready to go, ready to get my college career started.”
The 6-foot-4 freshman came out of the gate hot. She opened the contest with eight points and four rebounds in the first quarter, setting the tone for the Boilers. Purdue-Fort Wayne really didn’t have an answer for her all game long.
“She’s going to be a load for a lot of people we play,” said Purdue coach Katie Gearlds said. “Sunday (against No. 6 Notre Dame) is going to be a little bit different, going against someone her own size.”
Gearlds raved about the competitive nature of McCarthy all throughout the offseason. The work she put in on the practice court showed up Wednesday night.
After finding so much success in the opener, McCarthy now has a standard she wants to live up to every single night.
“It definitely sets high expectations for myself. Obviously, that’s a pretty good debut,” McCarthy said. “I want to do my best to maintain that the rest of the season. We have really good competition we play this season … I’m just going to set a really high bar for myself and try to get a double-double.”
Purdue will face a much more difficult challenge on Sunday, hosting No. 6 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are also 1-0, posting a 105-61 win over Mercyhurst on Monday.
McCarthy will have her work cut out for her, going up against 6-foot-5 freshman Kate Koval. It should be an interesting battle in the post this weekend.
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