The first BIG EAST home game of the season will bring the Seton Hall Pirates to Indianapolis on Sunday, Dec. 29. The final game of 2024 for each program will feature a 2 p.m. tip on FloSports.com. Joey Lindstrom and Amber Stocks will be on the call.
 
Game Day
Date: Sunday, December 29, 2024
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Indianapolis, Ind. - Hinkle Fieldhouse
Live Stats: ButlerSports.com
Watch: FloSports.com – BEDN
 
Bulldog Bits
- Despite the setback at DePaul, Butler is still 4-2 in the month of December.
- Butler's 43-point performance at DePaul was the team's lowest scoring output this season.
- BU shot 32 percent from the field, 15 percent from distance and 53 percent from the line.
- Lily Carmody has led Butler in scoring in back-to-back games.
- Carmody had eight of her game-high 12 points vs. the Blue Demons in the fourth quarter.
- Carmody's 13 shot attempts in Chicago went down as a new season-high.
- Carmody has now scored in double figures five times for Butler.
- Lily Zeinstra jumped into the starting lineup for the second-straight game in Chicago.
- Zeinstra matched her season-high assist total with three at DePaul.
- Kilyn McGuff leads the BIG EAST and ranks 26th in the nation in double-doubles (5).
- McGuff leads the team and ranks fifth in the conference in rebounds per game (7.5).
- McGuff needs five more steals to reach 100 in her career; she is eight free throws shy of 200.
- McGuff has logged exactly 2800 minutes of playing time in her collegiate career (113 games / 73 starts).
- Karsyn Norman tied her career-high steal total with three at DePaul.
- Ari Wiggins has been great from 3-point range this year making 69% of her attempts (9-13).
- Butler leads the BIG EAST in bench points per game (27.6).
- Cristen Carter ranks sixth in the league in blocked shots (16) and is eighth in blocks per game (1.1).
- The Bulldogs lead the league in free throw attempts (20.5) and free throws made (13.7) per game.
 
BIG EAST Standings
UConn 1-0, 10-2
Creighton 1-0, 9-3
Seton Hall 1-0, 9-3
Villanova 1-0, 7-6
DePaul 1-0, 6-8
Marquette 0-0, 8-3
St. John's 0-1, 10-2
Butler 0-1, 10-4
Georgetown 0-1, 6-5
Providence 0-1, 7-7
Xavier 0-1, 5-7
 
Scouting Seton Hall                                                                           
The Pirates won their BIG EAST home opener against Providence last weekend by the final score of 51-40. SHU outscored Providence 33-19 in the second half to improve to 9-3 on the year. Only three players scored for Seton Hall in the victory. Jada Eads had a game-high 25 points, Faith Masonius came up with 18 and Kaydan Lawson supplied the team with eight off the bench. Masonius is a Maryland transfer that ranks fourth in the league in scoring (18.0). The Pirates take more 3-pointers than anyone else in the league, but it's their defense that has shined over the opening two months of the season. SHU leads the BIG EAST in steals per game (11.6), turnovers forced (21.6), and turnover margin. Masonius, Amari Wright and Savannah Catalon all average 2.5 steals per game. Wright also leads the league in assists per game (4.5).
 
All-Time Series                                                                                                   
Seton Hall leads the all-time series against Butler 17-6. These two programs only met once last year with the Pirates coming out on top at Hinkle Fieldhouse 64-50. Butler split the season series in 2022-23 with a 79-45 setback in South Orange followed by a 76-64 win on Senior Day. That victory broke up nine-straight Seton Hall wins.
 
Last Game vs. Seton Hall                                                                               
Butler led Seton Hall by five at the end of the first quarter, but the Pirates would outscore BU 21-5 in the second to grab a 32-21 advantage at the half. SHU shot 50 percent from the field and 54 percent from behind the arc to move forward and collect a 64-50 win. Seton Hall had three players score in double figures while Jordan Meulemans and Caroline Strande led the Butler offense with 28 combined points.
 
18 3-Pointers                                                                                        
The Bulldogs set a single-game program record against Saint Francis by hitting 18 3-pointers. Eight different players made at least one 3-pointer and no Bulldog made more than four. As a team, BU shot 56.3 percent from behind the arc, making 18 of their 32 attempts. The old record of 16 was reached two times previously. BU hit 16 3-pointers at Georgetown on Jan. 11, 2014 and the 2023-24 team matched that effort with 16 against St. Thomas in game two of the Tiger Turkey Tip-Off.
 
BIG EAST Home Openers                                                                                
Butler is 3-8 in BIG EAST home openers since joining the conference in 2013-14. Two of those three wins have come against Seton Hall. BU defeated SHU 62-59 on Jan. 4, 2019 and took down the Pirates 79-58 on Jan. 2, 2017. The only other win was also played on Jan. 2, when Butler defeated Providence 66-61 in 2015.
 
10 Wins                                                                                                                 
The Bulldogs reached 10 non-conference wins before the start of BIG EAST play for just the second time since joining conference. Butler went 6-2 in November and highlighted that stretch of action with a 56-46 home win over Indiana. The victory came in front of a record-setting crowd of 4,135 fans.
 
NET Rankings                                                                                       
Butler dropped to 94th in the NET rankings this week while Seton Hall sits at 85th. All three BU non-conference setbacks this season came against top-notch competition. Texas is first in the NET rankings, Vanderbilt is 12th, and Wisconsin is 83rd.
 
Makalusky Making Shots                                                                               
Riley Makalusky has scored in double figures eight times over her last 10 games. The talented sophomore has made more 3-pointers in her career (51) than free throws (44). She heads into the Seton Hall matchup having made a 3-pointer in 10-straight games.
 
Well Done Wiggins                                                                                           
Ari Wiggins has 11 assists and just two turnovers over her last 67 minutes of basketball. She recently had a team-high five assists and just one turnover in 30 minutes of action vs. Wisconsin and didn't turn the ball over once vs. Saint Francis while adding a team-high six assists. Wiggins ranks second on the team in total assists with 32. Karsyn Norman leads the way with 46.
 
A Look at Last Week                                                                                         
DePaul's Taylor Johnson-Matthews netted a career-high 22 points followed by Jorie Allen with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Lily Carmody finished with a team-high 12 points for Butler. Butler went 3-for-19 from the arc for its lowest three-point field-goal percentage (.158) in a game since March 2023. The two teams shot a combined 62 percent (10-for-16) from the field in the first five minutes of the contest.
 
Strande Sidelined                                                                                             
Caroline Strande left the Wisconsin game with three minutes to play in the first half and was unable to return to action. There is no timetable for her return.
 
Schedule Swap                                                                                                  
Three of Butler's first four BIG EAST games this year will be played on the road, but after their FS1 game at Marquette on Jan. 4, the Bulldogs will host four of their next five opponents at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The only road game during that stretch is a short drive over to Cincinnati to play Xavier.
 
1,000 Point Watch List                                                                                     
Three Bulldogs are closing in on 1,000 career points this year. Caroline Strande is the closest at 931. The graduate guard scored 484 points for BU last year just missing the program's top ten list for most points scored in a single-season. Belmont transfer Kilyn McGuff has 868 career points and Sydney Jaynes is up to 781 points.
 
Up Next                                                                                                                 
Butler will break in 2025 with a road trip to Creighton. The Bluejays will host Wednesday's contest at 3 p.m. eastern, 2 p.m. central.