CHICAGO – The Bulldogs took their first conference road loss of the season on Friday night with an 89-60 setback at #13 DePaul. The Blue Demons hit 13 3-point field goals to improve to 23-3 on the season.
Kristen Spolyar posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. BU was led in the scoring column by
Katherine Strong and her season-high 15 points.
Upe Atosu jumped into the starting five unit with
Oumou Toure inactive and responded with 10 points and five rebounds.
Head Coach
Kurt Godlevske got eight points from
Genesis Parker and six off the bench from
Naira Caceres.
DePaul owned a 27-19 lead after the first quarter. The Blue Demons used a 7-0 scoring run to grab a 13-9 lead, but the 'Dawgs would fight back to tie the game at 15-15. 3-point shooting would separate the two teams over the final minutes of the first. DePaul's final four made field goals came from behind the arc, including Kelly Campbell's triple at the buzzer.
The scoring slowed down in the second quarter with the two teams combining for just seven points over the first five minutes. Strong, Spolyar and Atosu combined for all 21 of Butler's points at that point. The home team would win the second quarter 16-12 to take a 43-31 lead into the half.
Turnovers played a major factor in the first half at McGrath-Phillips Arena. DePaul forced 12 Butler miscues which led to 16 points.
Katherine Strong paced the offense for BU by scoring nine of her 11 first half points in the opening quarter. Deja Church would match her at the half with 11 of her own. Sonya Morris also had double figures at the break with 10 on 4-of-8 shooting. Morris ended the contest with a game-high 23 points. Church had 19 and Chante Stonewall added 17.
The start of the third quarter broke the game wide open. DePaul scored the first eight points of the second half and a 14-6 scoring run would push their lead to 20 points. Head Coach Doug Bruno had four different players hit a 3-point field goal in a stretch of four minutes to build the advantage.
The Blue Demons outscored Butler 31-19 in the third quarter and each team would empty the bench in the fourth to take us to our final score of 89-60. Butler will travel to Milwaukee to face the Marquette Golden Eagles on Sunday, Feb. 16. Tip on BEDN is set for 3 PM.
