Beyond the Box Score: Women’s basketball loses fourth straight as season-long issues persist

The Bulldogs are 2-3 in games where first-year guard Lily Carmody records more turnovers than points. Photo by Jonathan Wang. 

DAVID JACOBS | SPORTS CO-EDITOR | drjacobs@butler.edu 

After a crushing defeat to Creighton in Hinkle Fieldhouse head coach Austin Parkinson noted that in order to get these Big East wins his team would need to, “box out and take care of the ball — it can’t be one or the other.”

On the road against Seton Hall on Jan. 29, it was not a matter of getting outworked on the boards as the Dawgs held a slim 35-33 deficit in the rebounding category. However, with a turnover margin of 28-12, proving the point by Parkinson to stand true as the Bulldogs fell 71-48 to the Pirates. 

It was an excruciatingly inefficient start by both teams to start the game, with each team shooting at or below 30% from the field and combining for a combined 0-15 mark from beyond the arc. 

With a 30-11 first-half deficit stacking onto each inefficient stat, the performance against the Pirates continued the unfortunate trend of blowing late leads or getting blitzed on the scoreboard early in nearly every loss. 

Time for a switch-up 

Although coach Parkinson has shaken up the starting lineup a few times this season due to both injury and performance, it may just be time to try yet another rotation after going on a 2-7 stretch with the current starting lineup. 

One bench piece that deserves a fair shot with the starting group is first-year forward Jocelyn Land, pacing the team with 14 points on 3-6 shooting from three

Additionally, senior guard Ari Wiggins — who started 20 games last season  — could be another backup to get a chance with the ones. Wiggins had two points and assists in just 13 minutes of action, but has averaged 9 points and 4.4 assists in games playing 20 or more minutes this season. 

Regardless of what is done with the rotation, things only get harder as the Dawgs travel to Hartford, CT to take on UConn on Feb. 2. 

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