Redshirt sophomore guard Mallory Miller scored a team-high 19 points against Seton Hall. Photo by Drew Kosmak.
NHU-HAN BUI | SPORTS CO-EDITOR | hbui@butler.edu
The women’s basketball team concluded its regular season with a Senior Day win, topping Seton Hall 62-55. Before the game, two seniors — forward Lilly Stoddard and student assistant coach Chloe Jeffers — along with team managers and practice players, were honored for their contributions to the team.
Closing off the season with a strong home win and three-game win streak gives head coach Austin Parkinson’s squad some much-needed momentum going into the Big East Tournament.
After losing to the Pirates in their first Big East match, Parkinson believes coming away with the win shows his team’s growth over the course of the year.
“We played [Seton Hall] the first [conference] game and then the last game, and I said to the team, ‘The team that practiced yesterday before this game was not the same team that practiced the day before we played them last time,’” Parkinson said. “It’s been neat to see our players really buy in with what we’re trying to do. Players are stepping up. I thought [redshirt sophomore forward] Mallory Miller was awesome today, and the twins continue to be just such high energy players.”
The first quarter was a defensive show, as both teams were held to low scores. Sophomore guard McKenna Johnson was the dominant force behind Butler’s offense in the quarter, scoring eight of the Bulldogs’ 12 points. The guard went 3-of-4 from the field and nailed two consecutive three-pointers.
Meanwhile, the Dawgs’ defense held Seton Hall to just 29.4% shooting from the field and 16.7% shooting from beyond the arc.
In the second quarter, both teams exchanged baskets in a high-scoring 10 minutes, with their momentum only halted by a media timeout. Although the Bulldogs were only held to 40% shooting from beyond the arc, they went 9-of-16 on field goals, which proved to be the difference maker. The Pirates only went 46.2% from the field and made three of their five three-point attempts.
Miller became the game’s first player to reach double-digit points with 12, going 4-of-7 from the field — including a buzzer-beating layup off her own missed three — and 2-of-4 on three-pointers. The Bulldogs entered halftime with an eight-point lead thanks to Miller’s efforts.
After the Bulldogs scored six points to open the third quarter, Seton Hall slowly started amping up its offense, as senior guard Jordana Codio scored 12 of the Pirates’ 15 points. The other three came from senior forward Mariana Valenzuela. While the Dawgs held the rest of the Pirates scoreless, Codio and Valenzuela quickly erased the Bulldogs’ 14-point lead to just four points entering the fourth quarter.
Codio became the game’s leading scorer by the end of the quarter, and finished with a game-high 27 points.
The fourth quarter saw more back-and-forth action, with Butler unwilling to give up the lead and Seton Hall playing hard. Both sides also exchanged missed three-pointers, with the Pirates making none of their six attempts and the Bulldogs only nailing one from Miller.
A layup from Valenzuela shrank the lead to just three points, but Miller’s late three-pointer, along with three free throws from junior guard Nevaeh Jackson and sophomore guard Lily Zeinstra, ensured Butler came out on top.
Along with Codio, Valenzuela was the other double-digit scorer for Seton Hall with 13 points. No other player for the Pirates scored more than seven points.
After Valenzuela was the team’s leading scorer in the team’s last meeting, Parkinson believes holding her to a low point total played a big difference in the game’s outcome.
“The interesting part is [Codio] stepped up and was hitting shot after shot after shot,” Parkinson said. “We did a really good job on [Valenzuela]; the first time she had 25 against us. I thought that was a huge, huge difference.”
Miller finished the game leading the Dawgs with 19 points. Jackson and Johnson joined her with 10 points, and redshirt sophomore guard Saniya Jackson led the team with eight rebounds.
As the Bulldogs look towards the Big East Tournament now, Parkinson says the team’s goal is to continue improving in order to remain competitive.
“The reality is we just have to continue to work on getting better,” Parkinson said. “Every practice is valuable for us and our players have the right mindset and right attitude, and we’ll just really go out there and compete.”
