Lily Carmody scored 20 points in the win against Milwaukee. Photo by Jada Gangazha.
DAVID JACOBS | ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR | drjacobs@butler.edu
The women’s basketball team traveled to Milwaukee to take on former Horizon League foes and stayed for five extra minutes to secure a 79-70 victory on Nov. 9.
It was a slow start for the Dawgs as the Panthers got out to a 12-2 lead before the Bulldogs stormed back to take a 30-24 lead midway through the second quarter. With a 38-35 difference at the half, the two teams battled back and forth throughout the second half before Butler was able to pull away.
First-year guard Lily Carmody shined throughout the game as she led the bench units with 20 points, four assists and four steals. The Australia native worked her way into the crunch-time rotation as she played more minutes than both sophomore starting guards Riley Makalusky and Karsyn Norman.
Graduate guard Caroline Strande chipped in 17 points while senior guard Kilyn McGuff played 38 minutes and put up 10 points to pair with eight rebounds.
Although it was not quite a double-double performance, sophomore forward Cristen Carter had another impressive outing with seven points, nine rebounds and three blocks — including five crucial offensive rebounds that helped the Dawgs outrebound the Panthers 36-26.
The Dawgs relied on their bench throughout the game as 36 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds were attributed to the unit. Additionally, the reserves collectively shot 15-23 while the starters converted on just 12 of their 30 attempts.
It was a tale of two halves for the Dawgs as in the first half they failed to reach the free throw line, while in the second half and overtime, they managed to go 20-32 from the charity stripe. After going a full half without a visit to the stripe, head coach Austin Parkinson successfully attacked the paint to get the whistles to start falling their way.
Despite the win, Butler looked poor at times defensively, being outhustled and finding themselves out of place — leading to many uncontested perimeter looks from the Panthers. Nonetheless, when it mattered most the Dawgs were able to tighten up and hold Milwaukee to just 12 points across the fourth quarter and overtime.
While it may not have been a commanding victory as expected, the narrow win is still an improvement as Butler relied on their size and interior presence against a smaller team — rather than leaning on the three-point jump shot like they have in years past.
The undefeated Dawgs will be put to the test on Nov. 13 when AP Pre-Season ranked Indiana University pays a visit to Hinkle Fieldhouse.
