Purdue women’s basketball doesn’t have much time to waste before the 2026-27 season gets rolling, and the Boilermakers just got their full non-conference roadmap.
With less than two months left before tipoff, Purdue released its complete schedule on Thursday, giving a clear look at how coach Katie Gearlds’ reshaped roster will be tested before Big Ten play begins. The setup is favorable on paper: plenty of home games, just one true road trip, and only two power-conference opponents.
That matters for a team coming off a 2025-26 season that finished 13-17 overall and 5-13 in Big Ten play. Purdue landed as the No. 14 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, then spent the offseason reworking the roster.
Gearlds and her staff added six players from the transfer portal and four more from overseas, leaving the Boilermakers with seven international players in all. Four players return from last year’s team: Avery Gordon, McKenna Layden, Saige Stahl and Taylor Henderson.
The biggest edge in the schedule is easy to spot. Purdue will play 12 non-conference games, and nine of them will be at Mackey Arena.
The Boilermakers also have just one true road game, a Dec. 19 trip to Dayton. Last season, Gearlds’ team went away from home three times and came back with losses to No.
20 Kentucky, Central Michigan and Purdue-Fort Wayne.
That home-heavy start should help a group that needs time to gel. Purdue opens with four straight home games, and five if the exhibition is included. For a roster built around newcomers, that’s a useful runway before the pressure ramps up.
The schedule is also light on high-major competition. Purdue has only two games against power-conference opponents, both coming at the WBCA Showcase at Walt Disney World’s Wide World of Sports Complex. The Boilermakers will face Florida State and Texas Tech there, and those are likely to be the toughest matchups of the non-conference slate.
Florida State finished 2025-26 at 10-21 overall and 5-13 in the ACC. Texas Tech was the much bigger challenge, posting a 26-8 record, earning a No. 22 national ranking and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
That leaves Purdue with a schedule that offers real opportunity. Ten of the 12 non-conference games come against mid-major opponents, and the Boilermakers have a chance to bank wins before the Big Ten grind arrives. In a league that is expected to be brutal again, getting off to a solid start could matter for confidence, chemistry and how quickly this new-look group comes together once conference play begins.
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