She's not green, nor does she fight evil villains in the Marvel universe, but Lana McCarthy has drawn a peculiar comparison to someone who does.

The Hulk.

That's how Destini Lombard described the strength of the freshman forward after Purdue's 87-77 win over Purdue Fort Wayne in the season opener. Considering how the McCarthy looked in her Boilermaker debut, it may not be far off. She had Purdue Fort Wayne defenders draped all over her throughout the night, but none seemed to be able to slow down the 6-foot-4 freshman forward on Wednesday.

McCarthy already had a 15-point, 15-rebound double-double in Purdue's exhibition win, but looked smoother and even more dominant against the Mastodons, securing her first official double-double with 18 points on 8-9 shooting and ten rebounds in the victory. Just the 15th freshman in program history to start a season opener, McCarthy became the first to notch a double-double in her first career game.

That stellar showing began early in the night, as the Boilermakers looked to McCarthy from the jump.

McCarthy scored the first two baskets of the day and the Boilermakers' season, both coming on offensive rebounds. Then, Lombard and Rashunda Jones looked her way for another pair of layups as McCarthy scored eight of Purdue's first ten points on Wednesday night.

The offensive boards were a sign to come, as McCarthy grabbed seven of her ten rebounds on that end of the floor, but didn't just want to use her 6-foot-5 frame to do so.

"I mean, obviously I have a height advantage, so I do my best to try to use that. They were good at boxing out, but I'm really trying to get around it. Just use more of my athletic abilities, not just depend on my height," McCarthy said.

The early success shook off any nerves that may have carried over from Purdue's exhibition a week ago, when McCarthy acknowledged that there were some first game jitters. No such anxiety was present on Wednesday.

"I think playing the exhibition game last week really helped me get comfortable playing in front of crowd, playing in Mackey under the lights. So I wouldn't even say I had that many nerves coming into the game tonight. I was just ready to go, ready to get my college career started," McCarthy said.

"Starting out hot definitely gave me a good run for the game," McCarthy said. "I know that made me feel very confident. I felt good going up to the basket the rest of the game."

The early onslaught subsided after she picked up her second foul early in the second quarter, but McCarthy's stellar night continued in the second half, having ten points and six boards after the break.

What was perhaps more encouraging was McCarthy's fourth quarter. When the Mastodons were ramping up for a comeback bid, the freshman forward led the Boilermakers in scoring down the stretch to get out of Wednesday night with a ten-point victory.

While McCarthy made history in the win, she wasn't the only rookie forward to turn in an encouraging performance. The "dynamic duo" of McCarthy and fellow freshman Kendall Puryear played about as clean of a game as possible. Serving as the change of pace to McCarthy, Puryear had 11 points on 5-6 shooting in just 13 minutes of game action.

The tandem combined for 29 points on 86% shooting and 11 rebounds, showcasing the production they can have in the front court for Katie Gearlds this season.

"You get 29 and 11 from both of them in their first college game -- I just think those two are just going to keep getting better," Gearlds said.

McCarthy and Puryear have indulged in healthy competition throughout the summer and now into the season, where the two push each other to be better day in and day out. The former sees a high bar being set in just one game, but believes it can continue to climb as they each become more comfortable at the collegiate level.

"The bar can always get higher for both of us. I mean, we're definitely a duo. Coach Alex (Guyton) calls us like the dynamic duo. So we definitely work well together, work well off each other. And I mean, we're two big, strong players, so combined, we always want to do the most we can offensively, defensively, with rebounds, points, just kind of picking up the team, getting in the paint," McCarthy said.

If you've listened to Katie Gearlds at all coming into the year, that production and the desire to do more shouldn't come as a surprise. The Purdue head coach has raved about her new rookie tandem in the post, who serve as compliments to one another, and have shown the willingness to be great.

"I tell you all the time, they want to be great. And you can see it on their face when they make a mistake on the defensive end, or something goes the way it wasn't supposed to go, the way they weren't supposed to do it. They're frustrated with themselves because they want to be great for our team. And because of that, those two have a chance to be special," Gearlds said.

Fresh off her dazzling debut, McCarthy has already placed lofty expectations upon herself and aims to replicate her initial performance against better competition as the year progresses.

"I definitely set high expectations that I set for myself. Obviously, that's a pretty good debut. I want to do my best to maintain that the rest of the season. We have a really good competition that we play the season," McCarthy said. "I'm just gonna set a really high bar for myself. I'm always gonna try to get a double dub or do as best as I can."

She and Puryear will have that opportunity in just a few days.

No. 6 Notre Dame comes to West Lafayette on Sunday night in what is one of the most highly-anticipated matchups of the year for the Boilermakers. The pair has thrived against Indiana Tech and Purdue Fort Wayne, but a much bigger battle is on the horizon against the Fighting Irish, literally.

"Sunday is going to be a little bit different. Going to get somebody her own size. So be good to see her, her bang, and KP too, bang against those types of players," Gearlds said.

Notre Dame's front line of Liatu King and Kate Koval presents a new type of challenge, one that the Boilermakers' wide eyed freshmen have not yet experienced, but soon will in front of the Mackey Arena faithful.

If Purdue is to compete and perhaps even pull off a monumental upset of the Fighting Irish, McCarthy and Puryear holding their own could be a big reason why. The start has been picture perfect, but the question now is whether they are ready for that challenge.