Butler women’s basketball falls to Georgetown at home

Whitney Jennings attacks the basket. Jennings made five 3-pointers and led the team with 19 points. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Lafakis. 

CHRIS BROWN | STAFF REPORTER | cbbrown@butler.edu

The Butler University women’s basketball team fell back to .500 in conference play with a 63-52 home loss to Georgetown University on Jan. 26. The Bulldogs are now 5-5 in Big East contests and 13-9 for the season.

Butler got off to a strong start to the game, going on a 6-0 run to begin the first quarter and outscoring Georgetown 20-11 in the first ten minutes of play. But the Hoyas responded in the second quarter, limiting the Bulldogs to six points while scoring 14 of their own.

Butler committed five turnovers in the final five minutes of the first half, while Georgetown went on a 7-0 run to finish the first half and narrow the Bulldogs’ lead to one point at halftime.

While the Bulldogs briefly regained the lead late in the third quarter, the Hoyas held the upper hand for the majority of the second half, outscoring Butler 38-26 in the final 20 minutes of action for the victory.

When Butler defeated Georgetown in the two teams’ first matchup in early January, the Bulldogs held the Hoyas’ top scorers to 12 and 11 points, respectively. In this game, though, Butler struggled to contain Dionna White and Mikayla Venson, who combined for 36 points.

“Last game, holding their best players to low [point totals] was huge,” sophomore forward Shae Brey said. “In this game they were stepping up and hitting big shots and that hurt us in the long run.”

The Bulldogs also committed 20 turnovers in the game, something redshirt junior guard Whitney Jennings said was a big problem for the team.

“You’re not going to win too many ball games turning the ball over like that,” Jennings said. “We definitely have to clean that up for [Sunday’s game].”

Jennings led the team with 19 points, making five 3-pointers in the contest. Junior center Tori Schickel finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore guard Kristen Spolyar tallied seven points and 10 rebounds.

For the game, the Bulldogs outshot Georgetown from the field 38 to 34 percent. Butler also out-rebounded Georgetown 38-35, but the Hoyas led in steals 14-2.

The Bulldogs will look to get back on track against Villanova University at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Sunday, Jan. 28. Butler upset the Wildcats on the road 76-53 in early January for their first conference win.

Follow Chris on Twitter: @cbrownsports

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