BRENDAN KING | Staff Reporter

The Butler women’s basketball team (9-11, 4-5) defeated the Providence Friars (6-14, 1-8) in a Big East Conference matchup by a score of 72-69 on Tuesday night in a nail-biter.

Junior guard Taylor Schippers knocked down a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left in the game to win it for the Bulldogs.

The Friars kept the game close throughout. The game was decided late when Butler held a 34-32 advantage at halftime.

Senior forward Mandy McDivitt played a game-high 40 minutes and recorded a team-high 17 points and added 11 rebounds. McDivitt also shot 5-12 behind the arc.

Sophomore guard Lexus Murry started in place of senior forward Daress McClung for the third straight game. In those games, Murry has recorded 32 points.

McClung was not on the bench for long, as she played 31 minutes and went 5-of-16 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line to record 15 points.

The Bulldogs had 25 points off the bench while the Friars only had six.

The Friars did win the battle of 3-point percentage in the game, as they hit 41 percent of their 3-point attempts . The Bulldogs hit 32 percent. Providence’s leading 3-point shooters were junior guard Tori Rule and freshman guard Sarah Beal. They made a combined six 3’s in the game.

Butler’s next game will be at Xavier on Saturday. The game will be nationally televised on Fox Sports 2, marking the first time the Bulldogs will be seen nationally on television this season.

Butler will have to contend with Xavier’s leading scorer, senior guard Shatyra Hawkes.

Hawkes is averaging 14 points per game for the Musketeers.   Xavier as a team is averaging 63 points per game.

As Couture has mentioned before, Butler will have to be consistent in its offensive game especially beyond the arc.