INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. –The Villanova Wildcats traveled to Indianapolis on Saturday night, where they tallied a 65-54 win over the Butler Bulldogs. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 11-5 overall and 4-1 in BG EAST play, while Butler falls to 8-8 on the year and 0-5 in league play.

Villanova started the game quickly, as the Wildcats raced to a 10-0 lead just 1:17 into the game. Three-points field goals by junior Zanai Jones and senior Maddie Burke highlighted the early surge. The Wildcats would push the lead to 14-2 before taking an 18-8 advantage after one quarter of play.

The Wildcats finished the opening period connecting on 7-of-20 from the field and 3-of-8 from three-point range, while Butler was just 3-of-9 and 0-for-2.  Balanced scoring was the theme for Villanova in the game's first 10 minutes with six different Wildcats reaching the scoring column. Butler was charged with eight first quarter turnovers.

Quarter number two was a period of runs. Villanova made just one of its first 11 shots and Butler started the second stanza on an 11-2 spurt to slice the Wildcat advantage to 22-19. The Wildcats responded with a run of their own and used a 7-2 run over the final 1:03 to take a 31-25 lead into halftime. Freshman Maddie Webber led the way, scoring five of the seven points on a pull-up jump shot and a three from the wing.

Webber led the Wildcats in the first half with eight points, while Burke tallied five points.

After a three-ball by Butler's Kendall Wingler made it a 35-30 game with 6:16 left in the third quarter, Villanova went on a 10-0 run to open-up a 45-30 advantage. The 10 Wildcat points included a three and lay-up by Webber, a conventional three-point play by Bella Runyan and a lay-up by Kaitlyn Orihel.

Villanova made eight of its final 10 shots of the third quarter to take a 53-38 lead after three. Webber was outstanding in the third period, registering nine of her team's 22 points.

A triple by Jones on the first possession of the fourth quarter gave Villanova it biggest lead of the game at 56-40. Following the trifecta by Jones, Butler would not get within nine the rest of the way and the Wildcats would cruise to the win.

In the victory, Webber led the way with a career-high 18 points. She was 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point range. Junior Lucy Olsen finished with 15 points. Runyan had nine points, while junior forward Christina Dalce finished with six points, a game-high 13 rebounds and four blocks.

Butler was paced by Caroline Strande with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Sydney Jaynes with 11 points.
 
For the game, Villanova was 27-of-68 from the field (39.7%), 8-of-22 from three-point range (36.4%) and 3-of-5 from the foul line (60.0%), while Butler shot 42.9 percent from the floor (21-of-49), 33.3 percent from long distance (4-of-12) and 88.9 percent from the charity stripe (8-of-9). Villanova owned a slight 36-33 advantage on the backboards. The Wildcats were charged with just seven turnovers.

Villanova returns to action on Wednesday when the Marquette Golden Eagles visit the Finneran Pavilion. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

NOTES: Head coach Denise Dillon improves to 8-0 all-time versus Butler…The Wildcats now lead the all-time series over Butler by a 15-6 margin… Villanova has given up just 195 points in the last three games combined…Lucy Olsen moved past Lisa Karcic, Devon Kane, Kathy Straccia and Jenn Beisel and into 26^th on Villanova's all-time scoring list with 1,054 points…Tonight was the team's seventh single digit turnover game of the year…Christina Dalce has 10 double figure rebound games this year and 22 for her career.