TICKETS | SEASON PREVIEW NOTES
 
INDIANAPOLIS – Bulldog fans can come to Hinkle Fieldhouse on Monday night to see the 2023-24 women's basketball team take on Franklin College in exhibition action. The 7 PM tip will signal the start of the new season.
 
Gameday
Butler vs. Franklin (Exhibition)
Monday, Oct. 30
7 PM
Hinkle Fieldhouse
 
Bulldog Bits
- Austin Parkinson has won 235 games in his 13 seasons as a head coach, averaging 18 wins per season
- The Bulldogs defeated Benedictine last year in exhibition action 86-31
- Butler will play in the 2023 Tiger Turkey Tip-Off hosted by Pacific in Stockton, California
- Non-conference away games will send BU to (RV) Iowa State (Nov. 6) and Wisconsin (Dec. 3)
- Seven of Butler's 11 non-conference games will be played inside Hinkle Fieldhouse
- Butler was the first women's college basketball team to host an event at the Indianapolis Bicentennial Unity Plaza
- Sydney Jaynes ranked third among all BIG EAST players in field goal percentage last season (52.6)
- Butler had five players shoot 40% or higher from 3-point range last year and three more shot over 35%
- BU made 14 3-pointers in their win at Xavier last year, just two shy of tying the school record
- Caroline Strande was the 10th-best free throw shooter in the BIG EAST last year (77.6%)
 
BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll
1) Connecticut 100
2) Creighton 90
3) Marquette 79
4) Villanova 76
5) Seton Hall 58
6) St. John's 52
7) DePaul 49
8) Butler 37
9) Providence 32
10) Georgetown 20
11) Xavier 12
 
Scouting Franklin
Franklin won eight games a year ago and were picked to finish fifth in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Preseason Poll. Head Coach Jessica Darmelio enters her second season on the sideline for the Grizzlies. Five players to keep an eye on Monday night include CiCi Bailey, Jordan Coon, Brooke Grinstead, Lauren Barker and Hannah Stutsman. Bailey was named Honorable Mention All-HCAC last year after averaging 8.3 points and a team-best 8.0 rebounds per game. She was the only player on the team to start all 23 games last season.
 
Austin Parkinson Enters Year Two at BU                                          
Austin Parkinson led the Bulldogs to an 11-19 overall record in his first season on campus. Butler won six of their nine games inside Hinkle Fieldhouse and put together a four-game winning streak in late February. Eight student-athletes return from last year's roster and the coaching staff added talent with three incoming transfers and three freshmen.
 
Indiana All-Stars                                                                                                   
The Bulldogs have six Indiana All-Stars on the 2023-24 roster. All three incoming freshmen (Norman, Makalusky, Carter) earned the recognition in 2023 and Lilly Stoddard was honored in 2022. Sydney Jaynes and Ari Wiggins round out the group from the 2021 class.
 
Jaynes Made the Jump                                                                        
Sydney Jaynes nearly doubled her production from year one to year two at Butler. In 2021-22 she made 62 field goals, resulting in 143 points. The next year she stepped up with 121 made field goals, helping her score 295 points. Jaynes made 30 more free throws in year two, grabbed 44 more rebounds and dished out 31 more assists.
 
Reunited                                                                                                                
Anna Mortag and Rachel Kent are reunited at Butler after playing together at IUPUI during a historic 2021-22 season. Under the direction of Parkinson, the Jags went 24-5, won the Horizon League Tournament and punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. IUPUI took #11 Michigan into overtime at the start of the year and moved forward to defeat #15 Iowa with Mortag and Kent in the mix. New Coordinator of Recruiting and Creative Content Director Madison Wise was also a graduate transfer (Iowa State) on that team.
 
Big Ten Transfers                                                                                                 
Ari Wiggins and Lilly Stoddard each left Big Ten programs to join the Bulldogs in 2023. Wiggins was runner-up for Indiana Miss Basketball in 2021 and was a four-star recruit heading to Michigan where she appeared in 37 games before transferring out. Stoddard was also a four-star recruit heading to Purdue for her freshman season. After playing sparingly, she was able to join Butler to play with her sister Abby.
 
2023-24 Roster Breakdown                                                                 
The 2023-24 roster features one graduate transfer, five seniors, two juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen. Half of the student-athletes are from Indiana (7). The 'Dawgs also have players from Wisconsin (3), Ohio (1), Kentucky (1), Illinois (1) and Canada (1).
 
Tallest Team in Years                                                                            
The Bulldogs have eight players on the roster standing 6-0 or taller, the most of any team at Butler over the last 15 years! Four of the eight are 6-3 or taller making this one of the tallest teams in program history.
 
Even Split                                                                                                               
The Bulldogs return half of their scoring from last season with eight returners back in the locker room. Of the 14 players that saw court time from the 2022-23 campaign, the eight returners provided BU with 921 points and the seven players that departed accounted for 911 points.
 
3-Point Threat                                                                                        
The Bulldogs led the BIG EAST Conference and ranked eighth in the NCAA in 3-point field goal percentage during the 2022-23 season by making 37.6 percent of their shots from distance. Butler made 227 3-pointers, the fourth-most in the league. They averaged 7.6 made 3-pointers per game, tying DePaul for the second-best mark in the conference.
 
Bulldogs Behind the Arc                                                                                     
Anna Mortag and Caroline Strande placed their names in the Butler record book after their first season with the program. Mortag made 30 of her 69 attempts from 3-point range to shoot 43.5 percent from distance and Strande connected on 23 of her 54 attempts to shoot 42.6 percent from long range. Mortag posted the sixth-best 3-point shooting season at BU and Strande was close behind in eighth.
 
Strande Shines in New Role
Caroline Strande enjoyed a larger role for the Bulldogs in her junior campaign than what she experienced as an underclassman at Minnesota. In 2022-23, Strande averaged 7.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. She was one of five Bulldogs to play in all 30 games and she jumped into the starting five 11 times.
 
Kendall Coming Up on Career Milestones                                        
The 2023-24 season opener will mark the 75th game of Kendall Wingler's collegiate career. The guard from Ekron, Ky. needs to make just five more 3-pointers to hit 100 in her career. Wingler is also 10 points shy of 500 and nine rebounds shy of 200.
 
Sydney Seeking 500 Career Points                                                    
Sydney Jaynes needs 62 points to reach 500 in her BU career. She will attempt to become the 25th player in program history to score 1,000+ points before she leaves campus. Kristen Spolyar (2016-20) was the last BU student-athlete to make the all-time scoring list. She ended her career with 1,544 points. The BU all-time leading scorer is former assistant coach Julie Shelton (VonDielingen) who played from 1989-93. She is the only player in program history to top 2,000 points (2,018).
 
Starting Five Shuffle                                                                              
Butler was one of three teams in the BIG EAST that had 10 different student-athletes start at least one game last year. Seton Hall had the most with 11 and Villanova stayed healthy to start the same five players over all 37 games in 2022-23. The Bulldogs led the BIG EAST in bench points per game (20.9).
 
Stoddard Set to Return after Missing 2022-23 Season   
Abby Stoddard will return to action this season after missing the previous year due to injury.
 
Up Next
Butler opens the 2023-24 campaign in Ames, Iowa to play (RV) Iowa State on Monday, Nov. 6. The contest features and early tip at noon and will be available to stream on ESPN+.