GAME NOTES
 
LIVE STATS AT ST. JOHN'S | WATCH ON BEDN
 
LIVE STATS AT SETON HALL | WATCH ON BEDN
 
INDIANAPOLIS – Butler will travel to New York this weekend to face the St. John's Red Storm on Friday night. The weekend will also feature a 1 PM tip on Sunday afternoon at Seton Hall.
 
Bulldog Bits
- Whitney Jennings hit seven 3-pointers to net 29 points in the setback to Villanova
- BU went 10-11 from the line vs. Nova; They went 16-16 vs. St. John's on Jan. 10
- 9 made 3-point FG's is BU's highest total against a BIG EAST opponent this year
- The Bulldogs only committed nine turnovers against the Wildcats
- Butler limited Villanova to just one made field goal in the third quarter
- 26 rebounds against Villanova is a new season-low total for Butler
- Tori Schickel has scored in double figures in 12-straight games
- Schickel or Jennings has led BU in scoring in 20 of 23 games this year
- Iman Lathan has an assist in 11-straight games
- Kristen Spolyar has led the team in rebounds the past two games (10, 7)
- Tori Schickel needs one more steal to hit 100 for her career (76 games)
 
Scouting St. John's (12-10, 5-6 BIG EAST)
The Red Storm have lost three-straight games on the road to move their conference record to 5-6. A five-point loss at Seton Hall started the skid and the Johnnies were limited to just 39 points in Friday night's loss at Creighton. The team is coming off a two-point loss at Providence. The Friars swept St. John's this year to post their only two conference wins of the season. There is no easy way to prepare for St. John's as five different players average nearly 10 points per game. Qadashah Hoppie, the reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, is currently leading the team with her 11.4 scoring average. St. John's leads the BIG EAST Conference in blocked shots per game (4.7). Forward Maya Singleton leads the league in rebounds per game (11.6).
 
Red Storm Slows Down BU 73-55 (Jan. 10, 2018)
Qadashah Hoppie and Alisha Kebbe each scored 14 points for St. John's in the first meeting as the Red Storm came into Hinkle Fieldhouse to record a win and snap a Butler three-game winning streak. St. John's led by six after three quarters, but would sprint to the finish line by outscoring BU 25-13 in the fourth. The Red Storm won the rebound battle 35-29 and won points in the paint 44-26.
 
All-Time Series vs. St. John's
The all-time series between St. John's and Butler favors the Johnnies 7-2. Butler's first win came in Coach Godlevske's first season at the helm. BU won 55-50 at St. John's, a signature win coming in the middle of an eight-game winning streak. Butler also came out victorious in the second meeting of the 2015-16 season. BU again won at home 62-58.
 
Scouting Seton Hall (13-9, 5-6 BIG EAST)
Seton Hall's three-game winning streak was snapped on Sunday afternoon at Creighton. The Bluejays won a wild game against Seton Hall in overtime 81-64. The first quarter featured a 24-4 lead for home team, but Seton Hall would fight back to push the game into OT at 64-64. The Pirates would go scoreless in the overtime period to take a 17-point loss. Donnaizh Fountain has been inactive for Seton Hall over the last three games. With Fountain out of the lineup, JaQuan Jackson becomes Seton Hall's leading scorer (12.0). Jackson shoots 42 percent from 3-point range and is also near the team lead in steals with 30. Shadeen Samuels is the top rebounder on the team and Inja Butina sets up the offense with a team-high 88 assists.
 
Butler Tops Seton Hall 66-48 (Jan. 7, 2018)
Butler outscored Seton Hall 40-18 in the second half of the first meeting to claim a lop-sided victory. Kristen Spolyar came off the bench to score a team-high 20 points. Butler also got 12 points and nine boards from Tori Schickel and 11 points from Whitney Jennings. Eight different Pirates would score points at Hinkle Fieldhouse. JaQuan Jackson was the team leader with 10. Points in the paint favored BU 30-8. The 'Dawgs shot 48 percent from the field compared to just 26 percent from Seton Hall.
 
All-Time Series vs. Seton Hall
Seton Hall holds a slim 5-4 advantage over Butler in the all-time series. Each team won on their home floor a year ago, but the Pirates would sweep the season series in 2015-16 and 2014-15. Butler won the first two meetings of the all-time series during their first year in the BIG EAST Conference. They won the first-ever match up 75-69 at Seton Hall and would make it a clean sweep with a 74-72 victory at Hinkle in early March.
 
Jennings Lands on BIG EAST Honor Roll
Jennings was the BIG EAST's top scorer last week, averaging 24.0 points, .593 shooting and 5.0 rebounds in games against Georgetown and NR/RV Villanova. The redshirt-junior's week was highlighted by a 29-point afternoon against the Wildcats. Jennings has now scored 20+ points in nine games this season. 29-points is just one shy of her season-high total of 30 which was recorded in the season opener vs. Austin Peay.
 
Keys to Victory
Butler will have to figure out a stingy St. John's defense to win on Friday night. The Red Storm held Whitney Jennings to just six points in the first meeting, a season-low scoring total for the standout guard from Logansport. Butler will also need to block out in the rematch. The Red Storm came up with 14 offensive rebounds to win the rebound battle by six. Butler is 0-6 on the year when they are outrebounded. Butler will need to play inside-out on Sunday at Seton Hall. The Bulldogs had a clear advantage inside in the first game that resulted in 30 points in the paint, 41 rebounds and a high field goal percentage (47.9).
 
Bump in the Road
Butler only scored nine points in the first quarter against Villanova on Sunday and six points in the second quarter against Georgetown on Friday. It marked the sixth and seventh time this season that BU has finished a quarter with a single digit in the score column. Butler's highest scoring total in a single quarter this year is 27 points. They have reached that total in four games, two of which were against a BIG EAST foe (Xavier, Villanova).
 
Ball Control
Butler ended the Villanova game with nine turnovers, the second-lowest total of the season. BU only made eight turnovers in the win over Creighton. Nine miscues tie the amount they had in the win over Wisconsin back on Dec. 8. BU averages 16 turnovers a game.
 
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 weekend with 1,103 points, the 18th highest total in school history. Nikki Anderson (1987-91) is next on the list with 1,128 points.
 
All-Time Great                                                                                                 
Tori Schickel has 784 rebounds in her career, a total that ranks her fourth all-time at Butler. 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 34 blocks on the year, moving her career total to 114.
 
Up Next
Butler's final two home games of the regular season will be played on February 9 and 11. The 'Dawgs will host DePaul on Friday and end the weekend with a game against Marquette. The DePaul game will be Butler's annual Pink Game. On Sunday, the athletic department will honor seniors Sydney Buck, Kaela Hodges and Iman Lathan.