INDIANAPOLIS – The Xavier Musketeers recorded a 69-62 win at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Friday night behind 20 points from Kindell Fincher. The Bulldogs trailed by just three points with 33 seconds to play in the fourth, but the comeback would fall short with Fincher hitting four free throws in crunch time.
 
Xavier never trailed in the BIG EAST opener to collect their eighth win of the season. The loss moves Butler to 8-5 overall.
 
A slow start really hurt the Bulldogs tonight as Xavier jumped out to a 19-7 lead after the first quarter. The Musketeers opened the game on a 9-2 scoring run and shot 41 percent in the opening frame compared to just 15 percent shooting from the home team.
 
Butler would explode for 27 points in the second quarter to get back within two point at the half. They closed the final 4:44 on a 15-6 scoring run.
 
Momentum would shift back to Xavier in the third quarter however as the Musketeers went on a 13-1 scoring run to force Butler into a timeout. Xavier went 5-for-5 during that stretch to take a 53-38 lead.
 
A strong effort from Butler in the fourth would make the game interesting as BU outscored Xavier 18-11 over the final 10 minutes. Whitney Jennings hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the deficit to just seven points at 63-56.
 
The Bulldogs would use a 9-0 scoring run to get within five points with 3:30 left in the game and that five-point cushion would hold until the 1:00 mark.
 
Jennings would hit another big shot for Butler to close the gap to just three points with 33 seconds left. Full court pressure would force a Xavier turnover and return the ball to Butler, but the following possession featured a missed 3-point field goal which forced BU to foul. Kindell Fincher would score the final four points of the game from the free throw line and the game would come to a close at 69-62.
 
Fincher scored a team-high 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting. She hit a team-high three 3-point field goals and added five more points from the charity stripe. Xavier hit 11 total 3-pointers in the game with eight of the 11 coming in the first half. Six different players were responsible for the first eight makes from long range.
 
Butler on the other hand only hit 3 of their 19 3-point attempts. A cold shooting night slowed down the BU attack, but the team continued to fight and went 19-for-22 from the free throw line.
 
Jennings went 10-for-10 from the line to end the night with 25 total points. Kristen Spolyar added 15 points off the bench and Tori Schickel hit double figures with 10.
 
Michelle Weaver impacted the game with a career-high eight steals to go with four assists and four points. Shae Brey and Iman Lathan rounded out the scoring with five and three respectively.
 
Butler returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 2 with a 7 PM tip at Villanova.