The Butler women’s basketball team suffered another setback yesterday, falling 49-46 at Indiana State.
The game marked the sixth straight loss for the Bulldogs (1-7). Of those six losses, five have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
The Sycamores (5-3) got off to a quick start, taking an 8-1 lead after the first five minutes.
However, Butler freshman forward Haley Howard and junior forward Becca Bornhorst accounted for the Bulldogs’ next 13 points, pulling Butler within two.
Howard scored a game-high 17 points.
Photo by Maria Porter
Bornhorst, in her third game back after an injury, posted 14 points in 22 minutes of work, including a 3-pointer before halftime to cut the Bulldogs’ deficit to just one.
“We’ve made progress in areas we’ve been working on,” Bornhorst said, “such as boxing out and having ball pressure on defense. We just have yet to play a full 40 minutes being completely focused on the little things.”
Butler focused on those little things in the second half and appeared primed to snap its losing streak, leading 44-43 with 2:31 remaining.
But, four straight Indiana State free throws gave the Sycamores a three-point lead.
Trailing 49-46 with just four seconds remaining, senior guard Devin Brierly misfired on the front end of a one-and-one. Bornhorst’s ensuing 3-pointer fell off the mark, allowing the Sycamores to pick up their third consecutive win.
“You certainly don’t want to be [1-7], but when you look on the tape and on the floor, I feel like our players are getting better,” coach Beth Couture said. “Our kids are playing really hard right now, but we’re just making a lot of mistakes.”
Three days earlier, the Bulldogs fell to the Bowling Green Falcons 71-61. Butler trailed by just five at halftime, but the Falcons (5-2) pulled away, leading by as many as 17 points in the second half.
Freshman guard Hannah Douglas led Butler with a career-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Douglas also pulled down a team-best five rebounds.
“We asked Hannah to be more aggressive and look to score,” Couture said. “She and all of our freshmen are bright spots. It’s just a matter of getting them all on the same page at the same time.”
The Bulldogs will host Ball State this Friday at 7 p.m. in Hinkle Fieldhouse.
