The Butler women’s basketball team’s three-game winning streak was snapped by a 72-58 loss to Valparaiso on Saturday afternoon.

It was the first win for the Crusaders (7-16, 3-9) at Hinkle Fieldhouse since 1983.

The Bulldogs (10-13, 6-6) led by one point at halftime but were outscored by 14 points in the second half.

Senior guard Devin Brierly put up a team-high 20 points, and Butler’s bench tallied 14 points, but the team was done in by 33.3 percent shooting from the field.

The Bulldogs also shot 63.6 percent from the free throw line, a stark contrast to Valparaiso’s 78.9 percent performance.

Crusaders senior guard Ashley Timmerman put up 10 points in the first three minutes of the second half to put Valparaiso on top.

Photo by Rachel Anderson

The Bulldogs never regained momentum, committing six turnovers while shooting just 27 percent in the half.

Butler was down 52-48 with just over eight minutes left, but Valparaiso pulled away, converting six free throw attempts in the last 45 seconds of the contest.

Freshman guard Hannah Douglas was the only other Bulldog in double figures, recording 14 points.

Timmerman finished with 13 points for the Crusaders, while sophomore forward Tabitha Gerardot tallied a game-high 26 points.

The Bulldogs will host conference foe Loyola of Chicago at Hinkle tomorrow at 7 p.m. before welcoming Illinois-Chicago to Indianapolis on Saturday.

Butler came away with a 60-57 win over the Ramblers (11-13, 6-7) in the first meeting between the team’s this season.

The result of an earlier contest against the Flames (15-9, 8-5) was far different, with UIC grabbing a 77-42 win.