GAME NOTES
 
Live Stats vs. Georgetown | Watch on BEDN
 
Live Stats vs. Villanova | Watch on BEDN
 
INDIANAPOLIS – Butler will get back to work this weekend with home games against Georgetown and Villanova. The Hoyas will visit Hinkle Fieldhouse on Friday, a night that doubles as the Daddy/Daughter game at Butler. Sunday's tilt vs. the Wildcats will be recognized as the Coaches vs. Cancer game. BU coaches will team with Relay for Life to raise money for cancer research.
 
Bulldog Bits
- The Bulldogs are tied for third in the conference standings at the halfway point
- BU has already doubled their win total from last year, both overall and in conference
- Butler outscored Providence 16-6 in the third quarter to help record the win Sunday
- Tori Schickel scored 27 points and pulled down nine rebounds against the Friars
- Kristen Spolyar tied her career-high assist total with four against Providence
- Shae Brey set season-high totals on Sunday with three steals in 36 minutes of play
- Brey is averaging 9.7 rebounds per game over Butler's last three contests
- BU has won the rebound battle in four-straight games; they were 10 vs. the Friars
- Butler dished out 17 assists on 25 made field goals in the win vs. PC
- Kristen Spolyar (illness) did not play in the first game between BU and Georgetown
- Butler only has two home games on the schedule in the month of February
 
2017-18 BIG EAST STANDINGS
Marquette 8-1, 14-6
DePaul 7-2, 15-6
Villanova 5-4, 15-5
Butler 5-4, 13-8
St. John's 5-4, 12-8
Creighton  5-4, 11-8
Seton Hall 4-5, 12-8
Georgetown 3-6, 8-11
Xavier 2-7, 9-11
Providence 1-8, 8-13
 
Scouting Georgetown (8-11, 3-6 BIG EAST)
Georgetown is a dangerous team despite their 3-6 conference record. The Hoyas have the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week in Cynthia Petke and recently upset Marquette to hand the Golden Eagles their lone conference loss of the season. Petke averaged 25.0 points and 9.5 rebounds last week. She led Georgetown to victory against Marquette with a 26-point, 13-rebound, three-steal outing. Two days later she added a game-high 24 points against DePaul in a 78-62 loss. She is one of just three Hoyas to start in all 19 games this season. Dionna White and Mikayla Venson join her in that area. White is the top scorer on the team at 17.5 points per game. Venson is a 3-point shooting threat that lands second on the team with her 13.9 scoring average.
 
BU Tops Georgetown 66-57 (Jan. 5, 2018)
Tori Schickel and Whitney Jennings combined to score 54 of Butler's 66 total points, and the BU defense limited the Hoyas to just five made field goals over the final 20 minutes of action. Schickel played a full 40 minutes and posted 28 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and a steal. Jennings knocked down five of her nine field goals from 3-point range to add 26 points. She pulled down five boards and added an assist in 38 minutes of action. Butler outrebounded Georgetown 44-33 and shot 44% from the field.
 
All-Time Series vs. Georgetown
Butler took a 5-4 lead in the all-time series after knocking off the Hoyas at Georgetown on Jan. 5. GU had won three-straight meetings before this year's outcome. Georgetown won the first-ever meeting 85-79 in 2013-14. Butler would respond by winning the next three.
 
Scouting Villanova (15-5, 5-4 BIG EAST)
Head Coach Harry Perretta put together a great game plan last weekend to help Villanova knock off DePaul 84-58 at Jake Nevin Field House. Nova and Butler are now part of a four-way tie for third place in the conference standings along with St. John's and Creighton. They are also receiving votes in the latest USA Today Top-25 Coaches Poll. Their balanced scoring attack features four players averaging 10-to-11 points. Adrianna Hahn is the current team leader in points and assists, but Alex Louin had the best outing against Butler earlier this year. Louin posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Butler Upsets #21 Villanova (Jan. 2, 2018)
Tori Schickel scored a game-high 26 points on 10-of-11 shooting to help Butler upset then-ranked #21 Villanova 76-53. Schickel added seven rebounds, six assists and two blocks to her stat line in 35 minutes of action. Butler shot 52% from the field (28-53) and crushed Villanova on the boards 43-19. The victory was Butler's first win over a ranked opponent since 1998-99. BU defeated #25 Illinois 81-65 in the San Diego Masry and Vititoe Classic.
 
All-Time Series vs. Villanova
Butler's win at Villanova earlier this season went down as just the second win against the Wildcats in program history. Butler's other win against Villanova came in Kurt Godlevske's first season at the helm in 2014-15. BU won 72-58 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
Schickel Lands on BIG EAST Honor Roll
In a 2-0 week for the Bulldogs, Schickel averaged 20 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 3.0 steals and .630 shooting. The junior went for 27 points and nine boards in Sunday's win over Providence.
 
Team BIG EAST/NCAA Rankings
As a team, Butler leads the BIG EAST in free throws made (272), free throw percentage (77.3), total rebounds (802) and rebound margin ( 5.4). They rank 11th in the NCAA in free throw percentage, 45th in rebounds, 46th in free throws made and 64th in rebound margin.
 
Individual BIG EAST/NCAA Rankings
Tori Schickel and Whitney Jennings lead the league in multiple BIG EAST categories. Schickel ranks first in field goal percentage (53.7), free throws made (84), and free throw attempts (106). Jennings is the BIG EAST leader in minutes played (789) and field goal attempts (332). Schickel ranks 52nd in the nation in field goal percentage, 40th in free throws made and 53rd in free throw attempts. Jennings ranks second in minutes played (Tyra Buss-Indiana, 827) and 15th in field goal attempts.
 
Keys to Victory
The Hoyas shot 2-for-19 from 3-point range in the first meeting. Mikayla Venson and Dionna White combined to shoot 1-for-14 from distance. BU will once again need to defend the arc in the rematch. Venson is shooting 40 percent from 3-point land this season with 38 makes. White is second on the team with 23 made 3-pointers. On Sunday, Butler will need to play inside out. Schickel hit 10-of-11 from the field at Villanova and passed out of the double team to record six assists. Butler also held Hahn to just four points on 2-7 shooting.
 
Halfway Point
Butler has more conference wins at the midway point of the BIG EAST season this year than they collected all of last year (2) or the year before (4). Head Coach Kurt Godlevske's first season at the helm featured a 10-8 conference record in 2014-15. Butler's first season in the BIG EAST (2013-14) was the exact same at 10-8.
 
1,000 Career Point Club
Junior Tori Schickel reached 1,000 career points on Jan. 10 against St. John's. She became just the 22nd player in Butler women's basketball history to reach 1,000. The standout center will now try to climb up the all-time scoring list at BU. She heads into the Georgetown game with 1,073 points, the 19th highest total in school history. Angela Cotton (1990-94) is next on the list with 1,080 points.
 
All-Time Great
Tori Schickel has 770 rebounds in her Butler career, a total that ranks her sixth all-time. She is now just five rebounds shy of fifth place (Sarah Schuetz, 774 from 1995-98). Schickel will attempt to become just the third player in school history to reach 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her BU career, joining Elza Purvlicis (1980-84) and Beth Piepenbrink (1980-83). Schickel also ranks 8th all-time in career blocks. She leads the team with 33 blocks on the year, moving her career total to 113.
 
BEDN
Mark Minner and Nick Gardner will have the call on Friday night when Butler hosts Georgetown. Sunday's crew will include Will Haskett and Ralph Reiff.
 
Up Next
Butler will travel to Queens, N.Y. next weekend to play the St. John's Red Storm on Friday, Feb. 2. The weekend will come to a close with a Sunday tilt at Seton Hall.