Redshirt sophomore guard Saniya Jackson paced the team on the boards for the second straight game, grabbing seven rebounds. Photo by Drew Kosmak.
DOROTHY LAKSHMANAMURTHY | SPORTS CO-EDITOR | dlakshmanamurthy@butler.edu
Valentine’s Day at Hinkle Fieldhouse brought plenty of effort from the women’s basketball team, but little love from the basket. The Dawgs fell 58-47 to St. John’s, as shooting struggles ultimately outweighed a strong defensive effort.
Head coach Austin Parkinson pointed to the numbers as the biggest separator.
“We got 23 more shots than them and we shot 29%, so I loved our effort,” Parkinson said. “I thought we played really hard and did a good job on the defensive end, but when you’re missing open shots and missing some of those momentum layups, it puts a lot of heat on you.”
Both teams traded buckets early, with neither side building more than a two-point advantage in the opening quarter. The score was tied at 4-4 at the first media timeout, and St. John’s held a narrow 15-13 lead by the end of the first.
Butler continued to defend and forced turnovers, but struggled to convert on the other end, shooting under 30% for the half. The Red Storm relied on free throws to maintain their edge and took a 23-20 lead into the break.
St. John’s began to create separation in the third quarter, opening on a 6-1 run. After pushing the lead to 38-26 midway through the period, the Red Storm eventually carried a 44-33 advantage into the fourth.
The Bulldogs showed fight late. After St. John’s held Butler scoreless for three minutes early in the final frame, the Dawgs responded with a 7-0 run to cut into the deficit.
However, the late rally was too little to fully overcome Butler’s earlier struggles, particularly on the defensive end. St. John’s capitalized on fouls and trips to the free-throw line, going 19-of-23 at the stripe, while the Bulldogs struggled to find consistency from deep and left points on the board during key stretches.
“We got to be more disciplined as a team,” Parkinson said. “We talked about that all the time that the number one thing on the board is to play defense without fouling. If we buy into that, and when we have, typically, my teams have been top 20 in the country and not fouling. For whatever reason, I’ve got to do a better job to get that message across.”
For the Bulldogs, sophomore guard McKenna Johnson and junior forward Caroline Dotsey led Butler with nine points each, while redshirt sophomore forward Mallory Miller added eight.
For St. John’s, sophomore forward Sa’Mya Wyatt led all scorers with 12 points and redshirt junior forward Daniela Abies pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
Despite the loss, Parkinson emphasized that his team’s effort never wavered.
“I don’t think our team did anything different throughout the game,” Parkinson said. “They played hard the whole time. We just couldn’t make shots.”
The Bulldogs will return to action on Feb. 18, when Creighton visits Hinkle for Butler’s second-to-last home game of the season.
