Game Notes
 
Dec. 2 vs. USF
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Dec. 4 vs. Ball State
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INDIANAPOLIS – Butler will host a pair of games at Hinkle Fieldhouse this weekend, beginning with a 7 PM tip vs. South Florida on Friday night. The weekend will come to a close vs. in-state rival Ball State on Sunday. Tip is slated for 1 PM.

Bulldog Bits
- Tori Schickel has posted a double-double in back-to-back games
- Schickel leads the BIG EAST Conference with a 10.7 rebound average
- Kristen Spolyar has scored in double figures in each game this season
- Spolyar is the sixth leading scorer in the BIG EAST Conference (15.7 ppg)
- Butler recorded 13 steals at TCU, the team's highest total of the season
- Sydney Shelton and Taylor Buford returned to action at TCU on Wednesday
- Sydney Buck is inactive with a lower extremity injury, no timetable for return
- Brittany Ward has not played this season due to injury
- Butler is a young team with four freshmen, five sophomores and two juniors

All-Time Series
Butler and South Florida will meet for the third time in program history on Friday night with the Bulls holding a 2-0 advantage over BU in the all-time series. USF knocked off Butler 87-77 a year ago in the third game of the regular season. The first-ever meeting took place during the 1989-90 season when the two teams faced off in the season opener as part of the Syracuse Carrier Classic. USF won the overtime battle by the final score of 71-67.
 
The all-time series between Butler and Ball State belongs to the Bulldogs 15-8. The Cardinals defeated Butler last year 58-50, breaking up five-straight BU wins over the Cardinals from 2009-14. The first-ever meeting between BU and BSU came during the 1980-81 season. Butler won 69-54 during a year where they finished the season with a 26-2 overall record.
 
Keys To The Game
Butler will have to play great defense on Friday night if they want to upset USF. The Bulls are currently receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches Polls. They average 79.4 points per game and are coming off a 50-point win over FIU. The Bulls hit a school-record 16 3-point field goals in the lopsided win. Butler has only hit 20 3-point field goals this year.

Defense will once again be the theme on Sunday afternoon when BU hosts Ball State. The Cardinals like to play inside out, which allows Moriah Monaco and Renee Bennett to get touches in the paint. Monaco, a 6-1 junior forward, leads the team with a 17.6 scoring average. Bennett, a 6-5 senior center, is second on the team scoring 14.0 per game. Tori Schickel, Shae Brey and Kaela Hodges did a nice job defending the paint at TCU. They will have to duplicate that effort on Sunday in order to stop the balanced BSU attack.
 
Probable Starters
Butler started Michelle Weaver, Alexa Bailey, Kristen Spolyar, Shae Brey and Tori Schickel at TCU on Wednesday. The Bulls went with Ariadna Pujol, Laia Flores, Maria Jespersen, Kitija Laksa and Katelyn Weber in their starting five against FIU. The Ball State Cardinals will host Chicago State on Thursday night before traveling to Indianapolis on Sunday. Against East Carolina, Ball State used Moriah Monaco, Renee Bennett, Calyn Hosea, Destiny Washington and Carmen Grande in their starting five.
 
Midwest vs. The World
Eight of Butler's 12 players on the 2016-17 roster call Indiana home. The cast rounds out with three-student athletes from Illinois and one from Wisconsin. USF on the other hand has nine international players on the 2016-17 roster. Only five players on the Bulls roster are from the United States. Sunday's tilt is much different, however Ball State does have two players on their team from Madrid, Spain.
 
National Rankings
Butler ranks 57th in the NCAA with 65 steals. Tori Schickel ranks 24th in rebounds per game (10.7), 26th in steals per game (3.1) and 80th in minutes played per game (35.0).
 
Short Bench
The Bulldogs have not played a single game this season with a full complement of players. Brittany Ward has been inactive for all six games this season and Sydney Buck is currently sidelined with a lower extremity injury. BU did welcome back Sydney Shelton and Taylor Buford earlier in the week with each player returning from injury to play at TCU.
 
First Five
Butler dominated the opening five minutes of action at TCU to race out to a 12-0 lead. Michelle Weaver came up with six of the 12 points during the scoring spree while Kristen Spolyar and Sydney Shelton each added a 3-pointer in the opening stages of the game.
 
Indiana All-Stars
The 2016-17 women's basketball roster features seven former Indiana All-Stars. Whitney Jennings, Sydney Buck (2014), Brittany Ward, Alexa Bailey, Tori Schickel (2015), Sydney Shelton and Kristen Spolyar (2016) all earned the honor after stellar high school careers.
 
Spolyar Can Score
Freshman Kristen Spolyar set the Indiana single-season high school scoring record during her senior year at Lebanon with 1,031 points. That effort helped her finish third all-time in the state of Indiana with 2,882 career points. The newcomer currently leads Butler in scoring with her 15.7 points per game average.
 
Schickel Wins the Game
Butler picked up their first win of the season in dramatic fashion by defeating Bradley by the final score of 58-56. Madison Dellamuth hit two free throws for the Braves with less than a minute to play, tying the game at 56-56. Butler would call a timeout after the second made free throw and advance the ball with 26 seconds left. The play drawn up in the huddle would work perfectly as Tori Schickel took the ball on the block and scored on her defender with less than a second to play in regulation.
 
Watch The Bulldogs
Bulldog fans can watch every home non-conference game online at ButlerSports.com. All conference games will be picked up by the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN), a branded channel on the FOX Sports GO app. The Bulldogs will also play on a national stage two times this season. Butler will host Seton Hall on FS1 to bring in the New Year on Jan. 2. Two weeks later, BU will play at Marquette on Jan. 15 giving BU a second game on FS1.
 
Up Next
Butler will play at Arkansas next Wednesday, taking the court against the Razorbacks at 8 PM. The weekend will end with a home game against Indiana State on Sunday.