INDIANAPOLIS – Butler outscored Austin Peay 23-12 in the fourth quarter, but their comeback would fall short on Saturday afternoon allowing the Governors to escape Hinkle Fieldhouse with a 68-65 win.
Alex Richard scored a game-high 17 points in 23 minutes of playing time to lead the Bulldogs. A balanced BU scoring attack also saw
Trinity White with 10 points,
Kendall Wingler with nine and
Tenley Dowell with nine.
Celena Taborn made her BU debut against Austin Peay and ended the contest with seven points in 15 minutes of playing time.
Zoe Jackson and
Emilia Sexton were also contributors with seven and six points in the setback.
Austin Peay got 17 points from Yamia Johnson off the bench and 13 from Karle Pace.
Butler hit their first three field goals of the game and would quickly enjoy an 8-0 lead in the opening stages of the first quarter. After a full 10 minutes of play, BU would lead Austin Peay 20-18.
The Governors outscored Butler by five in the second and by 11 in the third to take what looked to be a commanding lead heading into the fourth. Butler continued to fight and would use a 10-0 scoring run to get within two points with 3:49 to play.
D'shara Booker came up with two clutch field goals late in the fourth to keep Austin Peay in front. From there, the Governors would make their free throws to find the win column.
Butler will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 23 to host SIUE at 12 PM.
