BIG EAST Notes - 11.16.17
Last Night In #BIGEASTwbb: Butler 88, Murray State 59
In the lone BIG EAST contest of the day, the Bulldogs improved to 2-0 on the season with an emphatic win at Murray State in a midday matchup. Tori Schickel lit up for 29 points on 12-of-19 shooting, while Kristen Spolyar totaled 18 off a 6-of-7 mark from the floor. Butler shot 61.4 percent from the field, the best clip by a BIG EAST team this season, while limiting the Racers to a .322 mark.
Full Recap
Status Check
BIG EAST teams are a combined 12-4 six days into the 2017-18 campaign, with six teams unbeaten and three standing at 2-0. With a win yesterday, Butler joined Seton Hall and Xavier as 2-0 squads with the Pirates and Musketeers back in action tonight. The Hall hosts perennial Ivy League contender Princeton while XU welcomes Grambling State, both at 7 p.m. ET. RV/20 DePaul collected the league’s first top-25 victory of the season when the Blue Demons knocked off No. 21/21 Oklahoma on Monday night, 111-108, in overtime. NR/RV Villanova has the next ranked foe on the schedule when the Wildcats welcome No. 11/12 Duke to Jake Nevin Fieldhouse at 1 p.m.
Notable Newcomers
Freshmen and transfers have made an immediate impact in the early season, with newcomers recording team-high points in seven games over six days thus far. Graduate student transfer Donnaizha Fountain, the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week, highlights the pack thus far after leading Seton Hall in back-to-back wins, including a rebounding high as well in her 18-point, 13-board showing at Wake Forest on Sunday. Playing alongside a number of All-BIG EAST players, Marquette redshirt-freshman Lauren Van Kleunen led the charge Monday at New Mexico with 23 points. Butler redshirt-junior transfer Whitney Jennings made an instant splash when she dropped 30 points against Austin Peay in Saturday’s opener, while reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week Qadashah Hoppie from St. John’s (16 points vs. St. Francis of Brooklyn), Creighton freshman Temi Carda (15 points at South Dakota) and Xavier rookie Aaliyah Dunham (16 points vs. Mount St. Mary’s) have also recorded team-best outings.
A Look Ahead
A busy stretch of 14 games over the next four days is upon us before teams head to next week’s Thanksgiving tournaments. Six games are set before we officially hit the weekend, with a trio of games tipping tonight, including Georgetown making the nearby visit to Loyola (Md.) for its second game of the season. RV/20 DePaul will play its first regular-season games at the pristine Wintrust Arena, the future home of the BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Tournament presented by Jeep, as the Blue Demons host the Maggie Dixon Classic on Friday and Saturday. St. John’s returns to the court for the first time in a week on Friday when it welcomes William & Mary to Carnesecca Arena, while NR/RV Villanova will get one more game ahead of Sunday’s matchup with No. 11/12 Duke when the Wildcats face Lehigh in Allentown, Pa., also on Friday.
Weekly Schedule
Thursday
Grambling State at Xavier, 7 p.m.
Princeton at Seton Hall, 7 p.m.
Georgetown at Loyola, 7 p.m.
Friday
Lehigh vs. Villanova, 5 p.m.^
William & Mary at St. John’s, 7 p.m.
Delaware State at RV/20 DePaul, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Penn State at Providence, 1 p.m.
Mississippi/Saint Louis at RV/20 DePaul, 5 p.m.
Lipscomb at Butler, 7 p.m.
Sunday
11/12 Duke at -/RV Villanova, 1 p.m.
Georgetown at George Washington, 2 p.m.
Loyola (Md.) at 16/19 Marquette, 4 p.m.
Creighton at NR/RV Nebraska, 8 p.m.
^Allentown, Pa.
All times Eastern