INDIANAPOLIS – Butler outscored Villanova 36-28 in the second half, but a 17-9 first quarter deficit would be too much to overcome as the Wildcats held on to beat the Bulldogs 69-67. Butler is now 13-10 overall with a 5-6 mark against BIG EAST opponents.
 
Whitney Jennings scored a game-high 29 points in the setback on 10-of-14 shooting. Seven of her 10 made field goal attempts came from 3-point range.
 
3-point shooting was a huge factor in the outcome of today's game as Villanova knocked down 14 shots from behind the arc. 11 of Villanova's 14 made field goals in the first half were from 3-point territory. BU limited the Wildcats to just one made field goal in the third to win the frame 14-8 and climb back into the game.
 
Tori Schickel would give BU their first lead of the game at 54-53 in the fourth quarter after and and-1 opportunity with just 6:11 to play, but the Wildcats would hang on after getting huge 3-pointers to drop from Adrianna Hahn, Jannah Tucker, and Kelly Jekot.
 
Hahn and Jekot shared the team scoring lead for Villanova with 14 points each. Jekot led all Wildcats with four made 3-pointers. The balanced scoring attack also featured 11 points from Tucker, 10 off the bench from Mary Gedaka and eight points to go along with 10 rebounds from Alex Louin.
 
Shouldering the scoring load for Butler along with Jennings was post player Tori Schickel. Schickel only missed one shot from the field and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line to net 19 points. Kristen Spolyar came off the bench to add nine and BU would round out the scoring total with five points from Michelle Weaver and another five from Iman Lathan.
 
The opening quarter played a huge factor as Nova jumped out to a 17-9 advantage. The Wildcats used a 6-0 run to open up a 10-3 lead. Jennings broke the seal for BU with a triple and her second shot from deep would make the score 10-6 at the first media timeout. Spolyar would add her first three of the game to give BU three made field goals in the opening quarter for nine points.
 
Butler's offense picked up in the second quarter with the team scoring the first five points. Jennings hit another triple and Weaver would add a bucket to cut into the Nova lead. The Wildcats answered the call with a 6-0 scoring run of their own, but the Bulldogs would eventually post the largest scoring run of the game at 9-0 to force a timeout.
 
Butler would trail Villanova by 10 at the half, but a slowed down third quarter would make the game interesting. Neither side could buy a basket in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Lathan scored the first field goal of the second half at the 5:01 mark of the third. Moments later, Jennings would come up with a steal and score from 3-point range to get Butler within four at 44-40.
 
The 'Dawgs carried momentum into the final 10 minutes, but timely 3-pointers from Villanova would lift the Wildcats to victory. Hahn hit the first field goal of the fourth for Nova and her triple at the 6:03 mark would give the Wildcats a one-point lead at 56-55. Schickel would regain the BU lead with 3:37 on the game clock, but Gedaka would find her way into the paint to score on the next trip.
 
Lathan made one-of-two from the charity stripe to knot the score at 58-58, but two more Nova 3-pointers would fall in the next minute to give the Wildcats a four-point lead. Jennings would hit her seventh 3-pointer of the game with four seconds to play to bring Butler back within two points, but time would run out on Butler with the score favoring Villanova 69-67.
 
Butler will return to action on Friday, Feb. 2 with a road game at St. John's. The weekend trip will also include a tilt at Seton Hall on Sunday.