@ButlerUWBB Earns BIG EAST Road Win at Xavier 79-65

Shay Frederick | Butler University Athletics

By Press release submission

Jan 7, 2023

The Bulldogs used a 19-0 scoring run in the first quarter to build a lead and claim a 79-65 BIG EAST road win at Xavier on Wednesday afternoon. Butler buried a season-high 14 3-pointers in the victory and shot 42 percent from the field.

How It Happened

Xavier scored the first six points of the game, but the Bulldogs responded with a 19-0 scoring run to win the quarter 22-10! Butler held Xavier scoreless for six minutes during their scoring spree. Shay Frederick got the Bulldogs on the board with a 3-pointer and Tenley Dowell quickly tied the contest at 6-6. Frederick's second triple of the frame put BU in front 11-6 and the Musketeers would call for timeout.

A steal from Frederick after the stoppage led to a transition bucket for Caroline Strande and the run moved to 15-0 after a midrange jumper from Rachel McLimore. Dowell added a field goal off a Sydney Jaynes assist and Jaynes would hit a pair of free throws on Butler's next trip down to push the run to 19-0.

McLimore went back to work against the Xavier defense in the opening stages of the second quarter. Her driving layup marked the first points for the 'Dawgs, but the home team would come up with five-straight to say within 10 points.

After making four 3-pointers in the first quarter, BU would added five makes from behind the line in the second. Frederick hit the first off a kick-out from an offensive rebound, Caroline Strande was responsible for the second and McLimore hit the third for BU. McLimore came back to hit the fourth three and Chloe Jeffers came off the bench for the last one with under a minute to play. Jeffers' 3-pointer gave Butler 45 first half points and a 15-point lead over the Musketeers at the break.

Xavier outscored Butler 17-11 over the first seven minutes of the third quarter and got within eight points with 1:43 to play, but Jeffers would come up with five-straight points for the Bulldogs and a McLimore 3-pointer soon after pushed the BU lead back to 12 at 64-52. Butler got a stop after a Xavier timeout and second chance points from Kelsy Taylor gave the 'Dawgs a 66-52 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

The fourth quarter media timeout came just one minute into the action with Butler calling for the stoppage. The 12-point BU lead lasted another minute, but was trimmed to just 10 after a driving Xavier layup (7:42).

Butler just beat the shot clock for their first points of the fourth quarter. Dowell hit her third 3-pointer of the day to cushion the BU lead.

Butler's second timeout of the final quarter came with 4:31 on the game clock and a 13-point lead. Getting stops must have been the message in the huddle because the Bulldogs held Xavier without a field goal for nearly four minutes before an offensive rebound led to points for the Musketeers. Each side would net 13 points over the final 10 minutes and free throws down the stretch would allow BU to exit the Cintas Cetner with a 79-65 victory.

Stat of the Game

Butler hit a season-high 14 3-pointers at Xavier, hitting 48.3 percent of their attempts

Inside the Box Score

- Rachel - McLimore filled up the box score with 20 points, seven assists, and three rebounds

- Shay Frederick scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half while adding six assists and four steals

- Tenley Dowell had 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds in the victory

- Kelsy Taylor helped Butler off the bench with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting

- Chloe Jeffers hit two 3-pointers to help score eight points

- Butler went 9-for-20 from the 3-point line in the first half (45%)

- BU scored 17 first half points off 11 Xavier turnovers

- The Bulldogs limited their turnover total to just three in the first half

- BU shot 42 percent from the field and 45 percent