Game Notes

Live Stats | Watch
 
Gameday Information
Date: Sunday, December 11, 2016 / 2:00 PM EST
Location: Indianapolis, Ind. / Hinkle Fieldhouse
Live Stats/Watch: ButlerSports.com
Series History: The all-time series between Indiana State and Butler is tied at 13-13
Last Meeting: Indiana State defeated Butler 70-63 in OT 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 10.3 rebound average
- Schickel led BU at Arkansas with 16 points, seven rebounds and five steals
- Taylor Buford scored 11 points at Arkansas while adding 3 boards and two steals
- BU forced Arkansas into committing 19 turnovers, resulting in 15 BU points
- Butler recorded a season-high 14 steals at Arkansas
- BU shot 4-9 from 3-point range at Arkansas, their highest percentage of the year
- Sydney Buck is inactive with a lower extremity injury, no timetable for return
- Butler is a young team with four freshmen, five sophomores and one junior

All-Time Series
The winner of Sunday afternoon's game between Butler and Indiana State will take the lead in the all-time series. After 26 meetings, the two programs are tied up at 13-13. Indiana State landed in the win column in the most recent matchup with a 70-63 overtime victory at the Hulman Center. Ashley Taia led the Sycamores to victory with 25 points and six rebounds. Indiana State has won each of the last three meetings to pull even in the all-time series. Butler's last win came during the 2012-13 season (56-45).
 
Keys to The Game
Butler will need to slow down Ashley Taia and Wendi Bibbins in order to defeat the Sycamores. Taia is a 6-0 forward that leads the club with a 12.1 scoring average. She shoots 43 percent from the field and is the top threat from 3-point range, making 34 percent of her shots from distance. Bibbins is the reigning Missouri Valley Newcomer of the Week after lifting Indiana State to a pair of victories. The 6-2 forward averaged 19.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.5 steals per game last week in victories over Miami and Saint Louis. For the season, Bibbins is averaging 10.2 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds per contest.
 
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.
 
BIG EAST Rankings
Tori Schickel finds herself ranked in the top-five of multiple BIG EAST statistical categories. Schickel ranks 1st in rebounds (10.3) 2nd in minutes (34.7), 4th in steals (2.8), 4th in field goal percentage (54.4) and 5th in blocks (1.3). A closer breakdown shows Schickel leading the league in offensive rebounds (4.7) and third in defensive boards (5.7). She also ranks inside the top-ten in scoring (14.2).
 
National Rankings
Butler ranks 26th in the NCAA with 96 steals. Tori Schickel ranks 16th in total rebounds (93), 22nd in double-doubles (4), 31st in steals (25), 60th in field goal percentage (54.4) and 78th in minutes played (312).
 
Short Bench
The Bulldogs have not played a single game this season with a full complement of players. Tori Schickel, Kristen Spolyar, Shae Brey, Kaela Hodges and Sarah Humphrey have appeared in all nine games for BU, but the rest of the roster has missed at least one game due to injury.
 
Fast Starts
Butler has been a good first quarter team, outscoring the opposition 123-120 on the year over the opening 10 minutes. Fast starts have helped BU reach that overall total. The Bulldogs 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). Indiana State has been outscored 166-115 in the first frame, however Butler saw their offense stall in their most recent outing allowing Arkansas to score the first 10 points of the game.
 
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 has made an immediate impact at Butler by earning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week accolades two times at the start of the season. Spolyar 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 by defeating Bradley 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 welcome six more new faces to the program for the 2016-17 season. Five of last year's six newcomers returned to Butler for their sophomore campaigns while this year's group features four true freshmen and two transfers.
 
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.
 
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 not play any games next week due to final exams. The team will return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 20 with a 7 PM tip at Green Bay against the Phoenix.