MILWAUKEE – Butler trimmed a 17-point deficit down to just three with less than a minute to play at Marquette on Friday night, but free throw shooting would eventually ice the win for the Golden Eagles 76-69.

The Bulldogs outscored Marquette in each of the last two quarters, but a 35-24 halftime deficit proved to be too much to overcome.

Blaire Langlois scored a game-high 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting. She was 7-for-14 from 3-point range and also added five rebounds in 35 minutes of action.

Another top performance from Butler included a 14 point, 11 rebound double-double from Brittany Ward. She shot 6-of-12 from the field and knocked down her only 3-point attempt.

The third Bulldog to reach double figures against Marquette was forward Tori Schickel who returned to action after missing multiple games with an illness. Schickel picked up right where she left off with 14 points and six rebounds. She made six of her seven attempts, although she was limited to just 20 minutes.

Butler shot 43 percent as a team, compared to just 35 percent from the home team. Each team hit nine 3-point field goals although the Golden Eagles won the free throw battle 13-4.

The difference tonight came down to a slow start by Butler, paired with full court pressure from Marquette that forced 21 BU turnovers. The Golden Eagles cashed in for 21 points off those BU turnovers which allowed them to build up a comfortable lead.

Marquette offense was paced by freshman Allazia Blockton who scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Six of her 11 boards were on the offensive glass as Marquette ended the game with 21 offensive rebounds. A second double-double was posted off the bench by Erica Davenport. She ended the contest with 13 points and 10 boards.

Butler was forced to play from behind the entire way as Marquette opened up a quick 15-3 lead at the midway point of the first quarter. BU burned a timeout to kill the momentum, but the Golden Eagles would hang onto a 20-12 lead after the first 10.

12 more points would come for Butler in the second as Marquette opened up a 35-24 halftime edge. Butler scored the first five points of the second quarter to get within three points at 20-17, but the lead quickly grew back to seven points after a layup by Natisha Hiedeman.

Hiedeman was a large reason as to why Marquette got out in front early as she scored 11 of her 14 points in the first half. She knocked down three of her four shots from behind the arc and also came up with two steals.

Marquette's largest lead of the game would come in the opening stages of the third quarter, but it would quickly be erased with the Bulldogs going on a 12-0 scoring run to pull within four. The streak didn't hold up as Marquette pushed the lead back to 12 with 1:45 to play, but Butler was able to stay within striking distance after back-to-back 3-pointers from Langlois.

The fourth quarter didn't heat up until the 3:29 mark. Langlois once again lifted BU with a triple that cut the gap to just five points. That advantage would hold until Butler cut it to just three with a minute to play, but the damage had already been done and Butler would fall to 8-16 after seven Golden Eagle made free throws.

Butler will head down to Chicago tomorrow in preparation for Sunday's game at DePaul. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 PM EST.