VILLANOVA – Butler earned a 58-41 road win at Villanova on Friday afternoon to reach 10 overall wins on the year. Great team defense led to the outcome as BU limited Nova to just 13 made field goals. The 'Dawgs took a commanding lead in the contest by limiting the Wildcats to just four points in the second quarter.
 
Villanova took a slim 14-12 lead in the first quarter in front of 3,241 fans at the Finneran Pavilion. BU played Nova on Education Day, which allowed nearly 3,000 grade school students to find a seat close to the court.
 
The noise didn't bother the Bulldogs. A balanced scoring attack from the starting five unit made up 50 of the 58 points. Kristen Spolyar scored 15, Katherine Strong added 14 and Genesis Parker was in the box score with 11.
 
Second chance points were limited for Nova with Shae Brey pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds. Oumou Toure also helped control the paint with seven points and nine rebounds.
 
The game started to take shape in the second quarter with Butler scoring the first 13 points of the frame. Nova couldn't buy a bucket, shooting just 1-for-15 during that time.
 
BU held a 32-18 lead at the half, but that advantage would be trimmed to just 10 with 5:34 left in the fourth. Butler never flinched and would end the game with great free throw shooting which helped seal the win. BU connected on 19 of their 23 attempts from the charity stripe.
 
Butler has now won three-straight games at Villanova. They will attempt to keep their current winning streak alive on Sunday with a 2 PM tilt at Georgetown. Fans can watch the game live on BEDN.