Feb. 3, 1999

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Having played poorly against ranked teams this season, the Providence Friars hope for different results when they host second-ranked Purdue on Thursday.

The Friars (3-16) have been beaten by the five ranked teams they have played. In those five losses, Providence has yielded an average of 93 points, including 110 to then-No. 18 Arkansas back in November. On Saturday, the Friars surrendered 97 points in a 38-point loss to No. 6 Notre Dame.

Providence is led by Monika Roberts and Chrissy Vozab, who average 11.3 and 10.6 points per game, respectively.

Purdue (19-1) is enjoying the best start in school history. The Boilermakers have won a school-record 17 straight games, the second-longest current streak in the nation behind top-ranked Tennessee's 18-game roll.

The Boilermakers are coming off Sunday's 80-66 victory over Michigan State. Stephanie White-McCarty had her usual stellar game with 25 points, while Ukari Figgs led the way with a season-high 27.

"They are almost impossible to defend," Michigan State coach Karen Langeland said of those two players.

White-McCarty, who has already been named Big Ten player of the week four times this season, averages 21.2 points per game. Figgs chips in 14.9.

Purdue claimed the only previous meeting between the teams with an 84-47 rout on Nov. 27, 1996.