Iowa Visits Purdue in Big Ten Women’s Basketball Clash WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Interstat) — The Iowa Hawkeyes, riding a two-game win streak, will look to continue their push near the top of the Big Ten standings when they visit the struggling Purdue Boilermakers on Thursday night at Mackey Arena. Iowa (20-5 overall) enters the matchup fresh off an 80-67 road victory at Nebraska on Monday. The Hawkeyes have won four of their last six, with their losses in that span coming against ranked non-conference foes UCLA and Southern California. Purdue (11-13) seeks to halt a five-game losing skid, its most recent a 74-59 defeat at Indiana on Feb. 8. The Boilermakers have found wins scarce in conference play, having dropped eight of their last ten contests. The spotlight will be on Iowa’s standout forward Ava Heiden, who is coming off a dominant performance. In the win over Nebraska, Heiden recorded 27 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in 31 minutes. Over her last seven games, she is averaging 18.9 points and 5.7 rebounds, providing a consistent interior force for the Hawkeyes. Purdue will counter with guard McKenna Layden, who logged a season-high 35 minutes against Indiana, contributing nine rebounds and two assists. Finding offensive consistency has been a challenge for Layden and the Boilermakers, who have been held under 70 points in eight of their 13 losses. Iowa’s backcourt of Chazadi Wright and Taylor Stremlow, who combined for 31 points and nine assists against Nebraska, will test Purdue’s perimeter defense. The Boilermakers will rely on the scoring of Avery Gordon (17 points vs. Indiana) and Madison Layden-Zay (15 points, six assists) to keep pace. The Hawkeyes won the season’s first meeting, 67-58, in Iowa City on Jan. 5. Purdue will need to replicate its defensive effort from that game, where it held Iowa to a season-low in points at the time, while generating more offense at home to challenge the ranked visitors. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST Thursday. Iowa hosts Michigan on Sunday, while Purdue travels to face Maryland.