First-year guard Lily Carmody made her fourth career start against Xavier. Photo by Jonathan Wang.
SAWYER GOLDWEIN | SPORTS CO-EDITOR | sgoldwein@butler.edu
The women’s basketball team suffered a brutal 50-49 loss to Xavier on Jan. 18.
The Musketeers had lost 48 straight Big East games heading into their matchup with the Bulldogs. Their last conference win was also against Butler.
The Dawgs’ offense has struggled as of late, particularly with graduate guard Caroline Strande — who suffered a season-ending knee injury on Dec. 29 — out of the lineup. Strande and junior guard Jordan Meulemans — whose season was over before it began because of her own knee injury — were both significant offensive contributors for Butler last season.
Butler has been forced to place a heavier load on the shoulders of its first-years, including guards Lily Zeinstra and Lily Carmody, both of whom are now in starting roles. The banged-up roster and lack of experience was evident against Xavier, as the Bulldogs recorded the third-lowest point total against the Musketeers this season.
All five Butler starters shot less than 50% from the field. Senior guard Kilyn McGuff scored all seven of her points on free throws, while Carmody and Zeinstra combined to make just four of the 16 field goal attempts. Carmody also turned the ball over nine times.
The Bulldogs outrebounded Xavier 31-19 and recorded three less turnovers than the Musketeers, a combination that would usually be a recipe for success. However it wasn’t enough to overcome a woeful 14.3% three-point shooting performance by Butler.
First-year guard Meri Kanerva scored a game-high 16 points for the Musketeers, while graduate forward Loren Christie scored 10 and pulled down four rebounds.
The loss drops the Dawgs to 12-8 on the season, including 2-5 in Big East play. These early struggles in conference play are disappointing for a squad that once looked poised to be this season’s breakout team in the Big East. Instead, inconsistency and injuries have relegated them to the bottom half of the conference standings.
Butler’s will return home to Hinkle for a home matchup against the Creighton Bluejays, who are 7-0 in conference play.