Junior guard Kennedy Langham scored a season-high 16 points against DePaul. Photo by Drew Kosmak.
NHU-HAN BUI | SPORTS CO-EDITOR | hbui@butler.edu
The women’s basketball team is looking to stack conference wins as the Dawgs host Marquette to close out their brief homestand.
Here is what you need to know before the Bulldogs take on the Golden Eagles:
Who: Butler vs. Marquette
When: Jan. 25, 2 p.m.
Where: Hinkle Fieldhouse
How to watch: ESPN+
Shooting their shot
After a rough stretch of games dating back to Eastern Illinois where the Dawgs went under 50% from the field and as low as 16.7% from beyond the arc, head coach Austin Parkinson’s squad is having its best shooting games of the season.
Against Providence, the Bulldogs snapped their losing streak with a win where they made 53.2% of their field goal attempts and 50% of their three-pointers. Although they fell to Villanova, the Dawgs took that success a step further, going 60.5% from the field and 57.1% beyond the arc.
DePaul’s defense was successful in holding Butler’s offense to lower numbers, but the squad still found a way to break out and score when it mattered most.
Redshirt sophomore guard Saniya Jackson notched her first career double-double against the Blue Demons, and has been a key part of the Bulldogs’ offense. The guard is making 48.3% on field goal attempts and going 34% on three-pointers in the season, and is the team’s leading scorer with 9.8 points per game.
Jackson’s scrappiness allows her to find scoring opportunities despite playing tough defenses, which could lead Parkinson’s squad to victory.
Scouting Marquette
After cruising past Butler with a 80-55 win back in December, the Golden Eagles soared to a 12-7 record and are 6-4 in Big East play. Head coach Cara Consuegra’s squad is coming off a narrow 56-55 win over St. John’s, where junior forward Skylar Forbes led the way with 12 points.
The trio of Forbes, junior guard Halle Vice and graduate guard Lee Volker is the dominant force behind Marquette’s offense, averaging 15.3, 13.8 and 11.6 points per game, respectively. Vice also leads the team on the glass, pulling down 8.9 rebounds per game, while senior guard Jaidynn Mason paces the offense with 80 assists on the season.
In the teams’ last meeting, the Golden Eagles’ defense shut down the Bulldogs’ offense, as the Dawgs only shot 35.4% from the field and a dismal 21.4% from beyond the arc. Despite that, junior forward Caroline Dotsey was able to score 16 points while also pulling down eight rebounds.
If Butler can find ways to score while also holding back Forbes and company, then the Bulldogs can come away with a large conference win.
