INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler women's basketball team recorded a 69-62 victory on Friday night over the visiting Wisconsin Badgers. The win moves Butler to 6-4 on the year and gives the program their first win over a Big Ten opponent since 2012-13.
 
Butler opened the game on an 11-0 scoring run and would never look back as they were able to secure their sixth win of the season and remain undefeated at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Tori Schickel recorded her sixth double-double with a team-high 19 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Kristen Spolyar was also a huge factor in the outcome by scoring nine of her 14 points in the fourth quarter.
 
The fast start allowed Butler to win the opening quarter 20-12. All five starters scored in the first 10 minutes of the game to give the Bulldogs an eight-point cushion.
 
Wisconsin chipped away at the Butler lead in the second quarter, but the Badgers would still face a six-point halftime deficit. The third quarter featured each team scoring 13 points, but the fourth would give fans their money's worth as Wisconsin got within one with 6:42 to play.
 
Three-straight Wisconsin 3-point field goals would erase an eight-point Butler lead and get the Badgers within one at 52-51. Schickel would counter with a layup after Roichelle Marble's 3-point field goal to give BU some breathing room and then Spolyar would find her groove for eight-straight points to push the lead back to seven.
 
Spolyar's 8-0 run included two 3-pointers and a jumper in the span of 1 minute and 42 seconds. Head Coach Kurt Godlevske would call Schickel's number again with less than two minutes to play to push the lead to nine and free throws from Spolyar and Whitney Jennings would end any chance of a comeback.
 
Jennings recorded 10 of her 12 points in the first half. She came up limping on the final play of the second quarter and clearly finished the contest less than 100%. The Bulldogs also got nine points from Michelle Weaver who went 3-for-7 from 3-point range and Iman Lathan who finished the game nine points and five boards.
 
Butler shot 63 percent from the field in the first quarter and finished strong by hitting 8-of-14 from the field in the fourth (57%). They won the rebound battle 39-37 and kept Wisconsin off the free throw line (4-for-4).
 
Final exams get underway at Butler University next week which means the team will be off until Monday, Dec. 18 when they host Loyola at 7 PM. The game will stream on Facebook Live.