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INDIANAPOLIS – The 2018 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Tournament will get underway this Saturday with No. 8 Butler taking on No. 9 Providence at Wintrust Arena. Action will stream on BEDN at 5 PM.
 
Gameday Information
Date: Saturday, March 3, 2018 / 5:00 PM EST
Location: Chicago, Ill. / Wintrust Arena
Live Stats: BIGEAST.com
Watch: BEDN
Series History: Butler leads the all-time series against Providence 8-2
Last Meeting: Butler defeated Providence 69-48 on Feb. 16, 2018
 
Bulldog Bits
- Tori Schickel was named First Team All-BIG EAST after a vote from the head coaches
- Whitney Jennings was tabbed All-BIG EAST honorable mention
- This is the first meeting between Butler and Providence in the BIG EAST Tournament
- Butler has never lost in the first round (2-0), each win came against Xavier ('16, '17)
- This is Butler's first time playing as the No. 8 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament
- Jennings (transfer) and Spolyar (injury) have never played in the tournament field
- Jennings and Schickel account for 52 percent of Butler's scoring this season
- Schickel needs just nine points for 500 this season; Jennings has 513 on the year
- Schickel averaged 19.5 pts and 8 rebounds per game vs. PC in the regular season
- Schickel scored in double figures in 17 of Butler's 18 conference games this year
- Weaver scored a season-high 20 points at Providence on Feb. 16.
 
Scouting Providence (10-20, 3-15 BIG EAST)
The Friars are led by Jovana Nogic and her 17.1 scoring average. Nogic leads the BIG EAST and ranks second in the NCAA with a 94.3 free throw percentage. The sharpshooter has made 85 3-point field goals this year, the second-highest total in the conference. Nogic and teammate Maddie Jolin give PC two of the top 3-point shooters in the BIG EAST. Jolin, who averages 10.5 ppg, shoots 41.4 percent from range. She leads the BIG EAST in 3-point FG% with Nogic ranking fourth (40.9).
 
Bulldogs Beat Friars 68-57 (Jan. 21, 2018)
Tori Schickel posted 27 points and nine rebounds in Butler's 11-point win over the Friars on Jan. 21. Providence held a three-point lead at the half, but the Bulldogs would win the third quarter 16-6 and sprint to the finish line by posting 20 points in the fourth. Whitney Jennings added 16 points and Michelle Weaver scored all 10 of her points in the second half. Jovana Nogic scored 13 for the Friars. PC was led in scoring by Clara Che who posted 14.
 
Butler Wins at Providence 69-48 (Feb. 16, 2018)
Michelle Weaver scored a season-high 20 points in the Butler win over Providence on Feb. 16. Weaver hit 7 of her 10 shots with three makes coming from 3-point range. Whitney Jennings, Kristen Spolyar and Tori Schickel also ended the game in double figures to give BU a 21-point victory.
 
All-Time Series vs. Providence
Butler won the first six meetings against Providence to jump out to a 6-0 lead in the all-time series, but the Friars responded by winning each head-to-head battle last year. The series is currently at 8-2 in favor of the Bulldogs after the regular season sweep this year.
 
Tournament Talk
Butler is 2-4 all-time in the BIG EAST Conference Tournament. They played as the No. 6 seed in the 2014 tournament, but lost to No. 3 Creighton 61-52. A year later, BU would once again enter the tournament as the No. 6 seed, but they would be eliminated by the No. 3 seed again which was Villanova in 2015. 2016 featured Butler's first conference tournament win. They won as a No. 9 seed 48-47 over No. 8 seed Xavier, but would lose in the quarterfinals 76-49 to No. 1 seed DePaul. Last year BU defeated Xavier 68-66 when playing as the No. 10 seed. They advanced to the quarterfinals, but would lose to No. 2 seed Creighton 64-55.
 
Historic Tandem
Whitney Jennings became the seventh player in program history to score 500 points in a single-season. She scored a game-high 15 points in the season finale at Xavier to move her season total to 513, a total that ranks her sixth all-time at BU. In order to move up to fifth, Jennings will need five points to pass Sue Morris (84-85). Teammate Tori Schickel has 491 points on the year, a total that ranks her eighth on the BU top ten list. Nine points from Schickel in the first round of the tournament would make history at Butler. No team has ever had two players net 500 points in the same season.
 
Game Within a Game
Junior guard Michelle Weaver has developed into one of the best defensive players in the conference this season. She currently ranks second in the BIG EAST with 55 steals. Weaver didn't allow Jovana Nogic to score a point in the second half of the first meeting this year. In the rematch, Weaver held Nogic to just 10 points, seven below her average.
 
One-Two Punch
Whitney Jennings currently averages 17.1 points per game, the highest average on the team and the third-best average in the BIG EAST. If the season were to end today she would rank eighth all-time for the highest scoring average in a single-season. Tori Schickel is scoring 16.4 ppg, ranking second on the team and fifth in the conference. Schickel is tied for ninth on the all-time scoring average list beside Daress McClung (12-13).
 
Jennings For 3!
Whitney Jennings hit one 3-point field goal at Xavier, moving her season total to 79. Jennings is now just seven 3-point field goals away from setting a new school record. Jackie Closser hit 85 3-point field goals during the 2006-07 season to break a school record that she set the previous season in 2005-06 when she hit 84. Jennings ranks third in the BIG EAST for most 3-pointers made this season. Ashton Millender of DePaul is first with 86 makes from behind the arc. Jovana Nogic ranks second with 85.
 
Whit Hits From the Stripe
Whitney Jennings leads the team and ranks second in the conference with an 87.0 free throw percentage (80-92). She is currently tied for fifth at BU for highest free throw percentage in a single-season.
 
1,000 Career Point Club
Junior Tori Schickel reached 1,000 career points on Jan. 10 against St. John's. She became just the 22nd player in Butler women's basketball history to reach 1,000. The standout center will now try to climb up the all-time scoring list at BU. She heads into the tournament with 1,204 points, the 14th highest total in school history. Debbie Benzinger (94-98) is next on the list with 1,214 points. Liz Skinner ranks 12th all-time with 1,224 points (1978-82).
 
Steady As She Goes
Tori Schickel is shooting 53.5% from the field this year, posting the second-highest percentage in the BIG EAST. This is nothing new for Head Coach Kurt Godlevske. Schickel also shot over 50% during her sophomore (50.1) and freshman (51.6) seasons.
 
All-Time Great
Tori Schickel has 839 rebounds in her career, a total that ranks her fourth all-time at Butler. Schickel will attempt to become just the third player in school history to reach 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her BU career, joining Elza Purvlicis (1980-84) and Beth Piepenbrink (1980-83). Schickel currently has 282 rebounds on the season, a total that ranks fifth for most rebounds recorded in a single-season. She set the BU school record last year with 364, and is just seven shy of moving into fourth place (Elza Purvlicis 82-83).
 
Protect The Rim
Tori Schickel ranks 8th all-time in career blocks. She leads the team with 42 blocks on the year, moving her career total to 122. Schickel is now just four blocks shy of tying Melanie Thornton (06-10) for seventh place all-time. She ranks second in the BIG EAST in blocks per game (1.4) and is tied for first with Yazmine Belk in total blocks.
 
Up Next
The winner of the game between Butler and Providence will face No. 1 seed Marquette on Sunday, March 4. Tip is slated for 1 PM.