Game Notes

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Gameday Information
Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2016 / 8:00 PM EST
Location: Fayetteville, Ark. / Bud Walton Arena
Series History: Arkansas leads the all-time series against Butler 2-1
Last Meeting: Butler defeated Arkansas 63-57 during the 2015-16 season

Bulldog Bits
- Tori Schickel made the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Dec. 5
- Schickel leads the BIG EAST Conference with a 10.8 rebound average
- Kaela Hodges played great vs. Ball State with 6 pts, 8 rebs, 2 steals and 1 assist
- Sydney Shelton handed out a season-high four assists against Ball State
- The Bulldogs are 0-2 on the road this season (60-55 at Wisconsin, 73-47 at TCU)
- Michelle Weaver was inactive against Ball State (back)
- 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 one junior

All-Time Series
Arkansas leads the all-time series against Butler 2-1, but the Bulldogs won the most recent matchup by recording a 63-57 victory against the Razorbacks just one year ago. In that game, Butler limited Arkansas to just 27 percent shooting from the field including 16 percent shooting from 3-point range. Jessica Jackson was in the box score with a double-double by recording 15 points and 12 rebounds. Butler was led by Michelle Weaver who exploded for 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Weaver went 1-for-1 from distance and was perfect (4-4) from the charity stripe. The first-ever meeting came early in the 1992 season when Butler faced the Razorbacks in the Arkansas Dial Classic. BU lost 80-66 and would also fall to Arkansas the following year 69-66.
 
Keys To The Game
Butler will need to keep Arkansas off the boards on Wednesday night in order to hand the Razorbacks their first loss of the season. Arkansas is +12.1 in rebound margin over the first eight games of the year. No one player dominates the category for the Razorbacks meaning all five Bulldogs will need to block out when the shot goes up. Once BU gains possession of the ball they will need to take care of it. BU turned the ball over 28 times (season-high) in the loss to Ball State pushing their average over 20 per game. Arkansas only commits 13 miscues per game.
 
Schickel Lands on BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
In a difficult three-game stretch for the Bulldogs, forward Tori Schickel averaged a double-double of 13.0 points and 12.3 rebounds while adding 2.0 blocks. The sophomore shot .636 for the week.
 
Fast Starts
Butler has played great basketball at the start of nearly every game this season. Most recently, BU has jumped out to a 7-0 lead vs. Ball State, a 7-0 lead vs. USF and a 12-0 start at TCU. UCF flipped the script on BU to open the game with a 7-0 lead, but the Bulldogs posted fast starts at Wisconsin (7-1), vs. Fort Wayne (17-4) and vs. Bradley (18-2).
 
BIG EAST Rankings
Tori Schickel finds herself ranked in the top-five of multiple BIG EAST statistical categories after just eight games into the regular season. Schickel ranks 1st in rebounds (10.8) 2nd in minutes (35.2), 4th in steals (2.5), 5th in blocks (1.5) and 5th in field goal percentage (53.2). A closer breakdown shows Schickel leading the league in offensive rebounds (4.8) and second in defensive boards (6.0). She also ranks inside the top-ten in scoring (14.0).
 
National Rankings
Butler ranks 47th in the NCAA with 82 steals. Tori Schickel ranks 15th in total rebounds (86), 16th in double-doubles (4), 61st in steals (20), 69th in field goal percentage (53.2) and 91st in minutes played (282).
 
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 eight games this season and Sydney Buck is currently sidelined with a lower extremity injury. BU welcomed back Sydney Shelton and Taylor Buford last week who each returned from injury, but the Bulldogs were without point guard Michelle Weaver in their recent setback to Ball State (back).
 
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
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 came in ready to play from the very start of the season. Spolyar was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week the first two weeks of the year. She averaged 17.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game over her first four collegiate games, shooting 47 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3-point range.
 
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.
 
Rebuild The Roster
Butler added six new players to the program a year ago and now, one year later, the Bulldogs bring in six more new faces for the start of the 2016-17 season. Five of last year's six newcomers will return to Butler for their sophomore campaigns while this year's group features four true freshmen and two transfers.
 
Watch The Bulldogs
Bulldog fans can watch the Indiana State 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 conference season will get underway on Dec. 28 with a road game at Creighton. The Bulldogs will 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 return to action on Sunday afternoon with a 2 PM tilt vs. Indiana State. The non-conference portion of the schedule will come to an end the following week with Butler traveling to Green Bay to face the Phoenix on Dec. 20.