INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 23: during the women’s college basketball game between the Butler Bulldogs and SIUE Cougars on November 23, 2021, at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire)

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@ButlerUWBB Non-Conference Slate Ends with Home Game vs. Evansville

12/21/2021 10:00:00 AM | By: Kit Stetzel

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INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler women's basketball team will host the Evansville Purple Aces on Wednesday, Dec. 22. The contest will signal the end of the non-conference schedule for each program. Opening tip will go up at 1 PM inside Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Bulldog Bits
- Trinity White has hit a 3-pointer for Butler in every game this year (17-for-47, 36%).
- White scored a career-high 21 points at Illinois.
- Zoe Jackson ranks 10th in the BIG EAST in assists per game (3.5).
- Tenley Dowell has only missed two free throws in her Bulldog career (27-29 / 93.1%).
- Alex Richard had a season-high eight rebounds at Illinois to go along with nine points.
- Nine of the 11 teams in the BIG EAST have a .500 record or better as we approach the New Year.

Scouting Evansville
The Purple Aces game at Chicago State slated for Dec. 19 was canceled due to health and safety protocols within the Cougar program. The Butler contest now marks the final challenge of the season for Evansville before the start of MVC play. Head Coach Robyn Scherr-Wells has Evansville at 6-3 with recent wins over Bellarmine and Morehead State. Je'Naiya Davis and Abby Feit are the top two scorers on the Evansville roster. Davis is a two-time MVC Newcomer of the Week honoree. She scored 29 points in the victory over Bellarmine and was responsible for a season-high 35 points in a win over Purdue Fort Wayne. Feit is the best 3-point shooter on the squad. She averages 18.9 ppg and has reached double figures in every game this season.

All-Time Series vs. the Purple Aces
Butler leads the all-time series over Evansville 21-16. The first-ever meeting was a 61-46 Bulldog victory during the 1979-80 season. The Purple Aces won the last meeting 51-49 during the 2010-11 campaign.

Last Meeting vs. Evansville
Evansville edged Butler by two points at Roberts Stadium in the last meeting. The contest on Dec. 7, 2010 came down to the wire with BU cutting the lead to just one point with 1:38 to play in the second half. Evansville made a single free throw with 20 seconds left in the game to get the lead back to two points. The Bulldogs had a layup blocked with seven seconds and after an offensive rebound BU would miss a second shot at the buzzer to give the Purple Aces the win.

Illinois Holds off Butler 78-66
The teams were separated by single digits until the closing seconds of the third quarter as the host Illini went on a 13-2 run to grow its lead to 17 with 7:07 remaining. Butler closed within nine in the closing moments, but free-throws by Illinois clinched the win. Trinity White led three Bulldogs in double figures with a team-high 21 points. Butler drained eight triples on the afternoon, including three apiece for White and Kendall Wingler.

Four Overtimes
Butler and Denver played 60 minutes of basketball on Dec. 10 with the first-ever meeting between the two programs going into quadruple overtime! Celena Taborn tied her career-high with 33 points while adding 10 rebounds. Denver's Uju Ezeudu nearly collected a triple-double with 23 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. Butler's Zoe Jackson played 54 minutes for the Bulldogs and the Pioneers saw Anna Jackson log 57 minutes of playing time. It was the longest game in Butler women's basketball history surpassing the triple overtime game at Providence in 2018-19. Butler has played in 40 single overtime games and eight double overtime contests. The longest games in NCAA women's basketball history went into five overtime periods. Memphis defeated Temple 100-97 in 2016 and Drexel beat Northeastern 98-90 in 2007.

94 Points
Butler scored 94 points in the setback to Denver on Dec. 10. It marked the highest point total by a team coached by Kurt Godlevske. Prior to that contest, the record under Coach G was 92 points (vs. Western Illinois 11/17/18).The last Butler team to hit 100 points was the 2010-11 Bulldogs that scored 105 points at Ball State. The school record is 116 points (vs. Detroit 1/30/99).

Taborn Take Over
Celena Taborn notched her first double-double as a Bulldog on Dec. 5 at Marquette with 14 points and 10 rebounds. She followed that effort with 33 points and 10 rebounds vs. Denver. Taborn has now scored in double figures five times this season (7 games). She has 1,329 points in her collegiate career and is the first Bulldog to score 30+ in a single game since Kristen Spolyar when she scored 30 vs. Marquette on Jan. 17, 2020.

Fantastic Freshmen
Butler freshmen have scored 411 of the 620 Bulldog points this season (66.2%). BU first-year players accounted for 51 of Butler's 66 points at Illinois. A freshman has led BU in scoring six times this year. Four freshmen have started in five games; three freshmen have started in four games. Two freshmen started in the season opener vs. IU.

Starting Five Shuffle May Be Solved
Butler used six different starting lineups over the first seven games of the 2021-22 season. The unit of Taborn, Richard, Jackson, White and Wingler have started in the last four games.

The Final Five
Butler only has five players on the roster that have appeared in all nine games this season. (Emilia Sexton, Trinity White, Tenley Dowell, Zoe Jackson and Sydney Jaynes).

Up Next
Butler will return to BIG EAST action on Wednesday, Dec. 29 with a game at Xavier. Action at the Cintas Center will begin at 2 PM.

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