Season Preview Notes (PDF) | Tickets
 
INDIANAPOLIS – The first chance for Bulldog fans to see the women's basketball program in action will be this Saturday afternoon at 2 PM. Butler will host Benedictine in exhibition action. The Bulldog regular season opener will follow on Wednesday, Nov. 9.
 
Gameday
Date: Saturday, Nov. 5
Time: 2 PM
Location: Hinkle Fieldhouse
 
Bulldog Bits
- Trinity White led Butler in scoring three times last season; she scored a career-high 21 points at Illinois and hit doubles figures in the scoring column eight times as a freshman.
- Tenley Dowell led Butler in rebounds 11 times last year; she grabbed a career-high 11 boards in the regular season finale vs. Georgetown.
- Sydney Jaynes started for Butler in six of the final seven games of the season last year. She scored a team-high 10 points in the BIG EAST Tournament game against Seton Hall.
- Kendall Wingler hit a 3-pointer in 21 of the 26 games she appeared in a year ago. The junior hit a season-high five 3-pointers vs. Ball State.
- Grad transfer Shay Frederick earned First Team All-MVC honors last season with Valparaiso. She led the MVC and ranked 47th in the NCAA by averaging 4.8 assists per game.
- Butler will host Creighton this year on FS1. The game will be played on Jan. 14 at 4 PM.
 
SCOUTING BENEDICTINE: The Eagles played an exhibition game at UIC on Oct. 27 and suffered a 92-35 setback. The Flames outscored the Eagles 22-3 in the first quarter and would limit Benedictine to 26 percent shooting in the contest. Second-year head coach Oliver Wiseman guided the Eagles to a 17-10 record last year, including a 13-4 mark in NACC action (Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference – DIII). The team will have to retool without NACC Player of the Year Alex Fanning who departed after graduation. The top returning scorer is 5-10 guard Brilan McCory. The Indiana native started in 25 games and scored 12.2 points per game.
 
DEFENSE LIVES HERE: This is a theme that is printed on our practice jerseys. We talk about it all the time because we want to be a solid defensive team. We want to guard the 3-point line, try and limit teams to one shot and stay out of foul trouble.
 
STYLE OF PLAY: Offensively we want to be as efficient as possible. I'd like to see a high number of assists from this team. We don't want the ball to stick in our offense, and our players also need to take care of the ball.
 
2022-23 SCHEDULE: We have a balanced non-conference schedule that includes two Big Ten opponents appearing during the month of December in a span of just 10 days. Indiana is one of those programs and they have been good in recent years so that will be a challenge for us. Illinois is the other and they just brought in a great new head coach so we are excited to host them in Hinkle Fieldhouse. The schedule also features an IUPUI team coming in here off a tournament run, and a Ball State team that returns a lot of good players after making it to the MAC Championship game a year ago. At the end of the day, we don't want to look too far ahead. One of our core values is to be process focused and if we do what we are supposed to do things will take care of themselves. We are disciplined in what we do. We set a standard and expect to play to it. We are going to be tough. Dive on the floor, take charges and do what it takes to win games.
 
AUSTIN PARKINSON APPOINTED TO LEAD BUTLER: Austin Parkinson takes charge for his first season as Butler head coach after a historic run at IUPUI where he was the Jaguars all-time winningest coach in program history (224 wins). During his 12 seasons at IUPUI, Parkinson posted eight 20-win seasons and earned the program's first NCAA tournament appearance by winning the 2020 Horizon League Tournament. IUPUI punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament again in 2022 as a 13-seed. The 2022 season was capped off with IUPUI having a student-athlete selected in the WNBA Draft, marking the first Jaguar to be drafted in program history.
 
IUPUI INFLUENCE: The women's basketball program will be under the direction of an entire new coaching staff with Austin Parkinson leading as head coach. Assistant coaches Latrell Fleming and Holly Hoopingarner were recently part of Parkinson's IUPUI coaching staff. Fleming worked on post-play development at IUPUI with Parkinson for seven seasons and Hoopingarner joined the Jags coaching staff after playing point guard at IUPUI from 2016-20. Fellow assistant coach Kristin Wodrich was a part of the staff at IUPUI for three seasons with Parkinson before taking the head coaching job at UIndy in 2016. 
 
BIG EAST EXPERIENCE: Butler graduate transfer Rachel McLimore spent her freshman season at DePaul, playing in 30 games for the Blue Demons during the 2017-18 season. After transferring to IUPUI, McLimore was a two-time All-Horizon League Second Team selection and member of the Horizon League All-Defensive Team.
 
GATORADE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Butler freshman Jessica Carrothers was recognized as the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Indiana after her junior season. The 5-7 guard averaged 23.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.1 steals and 3.9 assists per game while leading her team to a 25-1 record. The year ended with Carrothers scoring 25 points in the Class 4A State Championship Game against Brownsburg. Carrothers added seven rebounds and five steals to help Crown Point win 44-34. Other Gatorade Player of the Year winners from that season with BIG EAST ties include Azzi Fudd (UConn) and Caroline Ducharme (UConn).
                                                                                                    
WELCOME TO BUTLER: The Butler coaching staff welcomes eight newcomers to the roster for the second-straight season. Only four players on the current roster have started in a game for Butler.
                                                                       
2022-23 ROSTER BREAKDOWN: Three graduate students, one senior, five juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen make up the 2022-23 roster. These student-athletes hail from Indiana (4), Wisconsin (4), Ohio (2), Kentucky (2), Illinois, Texas and Canada.
 
CHEESE STATE: The Bulldogs have four-student athletes on the roster from Wisconsin and they all scored over 1,000 points during their standout high school careers. Minnesota transfer Caroline Strande ranks fifth all-time in the state of Wisconsin with 2,539 career points while at Racine Lutheran and freshman Jordan Meulemans ranks 51st on the all-time scoring list with 1,874 points during her time at De Pere. Grad transfer Shay Frederick played her high school ball at Hortonville in Greenville, Wis. and IUPUI transfer Anna Mortag is from Brookfield Central H.S. in Milwaukee.
 
BEST VS. THE BEST: IUPUI transfers Rachel McLimore and Anna Mortag played their best basketball against the best competition last year for the Jags. In games at #11 Michigan, at #15 Iowa and in the NCAA Tournament against No. 4 seed Oklahoma, McLimore averaged 19.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Mortag was also impressive averaging 10 points and four rebounds. Coach Parkinson helped guide IUPUI to a win over #15 Iowa and the Jags took #11 Michigan into overtime before falling short. IUPUI trailed Oklahoma by just four at the half in the postseason. The Sooners would hold off a fourth quarter surge to win 78-72.
 
TURN IT UP: Butler brings back seven student-athletes from last year's roster, but only 41 percent of last year's scoring. Trinity White is the team's top returning scorer in terms of points per game (7.5), but Tenley Dowell scored the most overall points of any BU returner (181 / 6.5 ppg).
 
HOME SWEET HINKLE: Butler will play five non-conference games at Hinkle Fieldhouse this year beginning with the season opener vs. Chicago State on Nov. 9. The two road trips early in the year come against in-state rivals Ball State (Nov. 17) and Indiana (Dec. 21). BU will also take a trip to Boca Raton, Fla. to participate in the Florida Atlantic Thanksgiving Tournament against Sacred Heart and Binghamton.
 
SHOOTERS SHOOT: The Bulldogs will put four shooters on the court this year to surround the post. The top 3-point shooters on the team from last year's roster include Kendall Wingler (38 made 3's), Tenley Dowell (33), and Trinity White (20). Rachel McLimore shot 40 percent from 3-point range last year at IUPUI (37) and Mortag proved that she could knock down shots from distance (24). Fellow transfer Shay Frederick made 47 3-pointers last year at Valpo and a team-best 55 triples the year prior. Freshman Jordan Meulemans set the single-season 3-point record at her high school with 92 makes from behind the arc. Fellow freshman Chloe Jeffers shot 45 percent from long range as a senior at Delaware Hayes.
 
JAYNES SET TO MAKE THE JUMP: Sophomore Sydney Jaynes appeared in all 28 games for the Bulldogs in 2021-22. In her first collegiate start at IUPUI, Jaynes logged over 22 minutes of action and scored in double figures for the first time at Butler with 12 points. Two weeks later, Jaynes logged 40 minutes of playing time in a four-overtime battle vs. Denver to score a season-high 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting. The former Indiana All-Star showed off her shooting skills vs. St. John's hitting three of her four 3-point attempts for nine points vs. the Johnnies. She averaged 5.1 points per game as a freshman, shooting 45.6 percent from the field.
 
UP NEXT: The start of the regular season is up next for the Butler women's basketball team. The Bulldogs will host Chicago State on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 7 PM. Butler's last win in a season opener came back in 2019-20 against Wagner. They defeated the Seahawks 74-58.