Senior guard Caroline Strande led the team with 17 points. Photo by Grace Hensley. 

DAVID JACOBS | STAFF REPORTER | drjacobs@butler.edu 

After starting just 1-9 in conference play, Butler secured their fourth straight victory with a 84-46 dismantling of Xavier on Feb. 21, moving to 5-10 in conference play. 

Although led by senior guard Caroline Strande with 17 points, it was actually graduate wing Rachel Kent and junior guard Ari Wiggins who paced the Dawgs for most of the night — scoring 15 and 11 points, respectively. 

“I thought Ari [Wiggins] was the star of the show tonight,” head coach Austin Parkinson said. “She took very good shots in the half-court, she had six assists tonight and really disrupted the game [on defense]. I was really proud of how she played.” 

A transfer from Michigan, this is just Wiggins’ second double-digit scoring night as she shot 100% from the field including 3-3 from deep. 

“She has a really positive attitude and she is a good player,” Parkinson said. “She has worked really hard, but her effort and her energy has been the difference. Six assists to just one turnover, she really got us going.” 

Dominant second half 

Throughout their win streak, the Dawgs had relied on one single dominant quarter to get them a hard fought win. 

Against Providence they outscored the Friars 16-6 in the second quarter, and at Villanova it was a 17-10 second quarter that got them over the hump. 

Against the Musketeers, it was a dominant 53-22 second half point differential that led them to victory after just a slim 31-24 lead was taken into the locker room. 

“[At half], I just said I thought we were getting away from the things we have been doing recently,” Parkinson said. “We missed a couple of shots, but I did not think we were playing very hard defensively. In the second half, by the first media timeout we were getting stops and every basket was an assist. That means we were focused on the right things and playing together.” 

With the help of the dominant half of basketball, the Dawgs finished the night shooting 47% from behind the arc and had a good ratio of 24 assists to just 12 turnovers. 

Up next 

Riding the tailwind of their four-game heater, the Bulldogs will be traveling to the nation’s capital to take on the 17-10 Georgetown Hoyas. 

“Just try to keep getting better,” Parkinson said. “They beat us here the first time, and we did not shoot the ball very well. They are a bigger, physical team so rebounding will be a challenge, but we are excited about it.”