VILLANOVA, PA. – In women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Finneran Pavilion, the Villanova Wildcats suffered a 55-52 loss to the Butler Bulldogs. With the setback, Villanova falls to 16-9 overall and 9-5 in BIG EAST play, while Butler improves to 12-13 on the year and 4-10 in league action.

The first quarter was tightly contested with four lead changes, two ties and neither team able to lead by more than four points. Villanova was 6-of-14 from the field in the opening quarter, while Butler was 5-of-14.

With the score tied at 12-12, Wildcat senior guard Maddie Burke drained a three to give her team a 15-12 lead, before Butler's Caroline Strande connected on a short jumper to end the first quarter with Villanova leading 15-14.
Butler started the second quarter on an 11-2 run to open-up a 25-17 advantage. Five different Bulldogs scored in the spurt highlighted by Sydney Jaynes with two post moves for four points.

After Cristen Carter scored on an offensive rebound put back for Butler to give the Bulldogs a 31-20 lead with 2:34 remaining in the second quarter, the Wildcats scored the final five points of the period to send the teams to halftime with Butler leading 31-25. The five Villanova points included a lay-up and free throw by junior center Christina Dalca and a short jump shot by senior Bella Runyan.

Olsen led the Wildcats in the first half scoring 12 of Villanova's 25 points. Jaynes paced Butler with eight points.
With the score tied at 32-32 with 5:59 left in the third quarter, the Bulldogs scored nine straight points to take a 41-32 advantage. Senior guard Caroline Strande led the Butler charge with five of the nine points.

Villanova junior guard Kaitlyn Orihel and Olsen connected on back-to-back jump shots over the last minute of the third period to make the score 41-36 Butler heading into the fourth quarter.

After Wildcat rookie guard Maddie Webber made a jumper in the lane to cut the Bulldog lead to 43-38, neither team was able to score for the next 3:05. Butler ended the scoreless stretch when Jordan Meulemans drained a triple and the Bulldogs led 46-38.

Following another scoring drought that lasted 2:09, Villanova cut the Butler advantage to 46-40 with 3:16 left when Dalce scored on a post move in the paint. On the game's next possession, Strande buried a deep three from straight away as the shot clock was winding down to give Butler a 49-40 lead.

Trailing 51-43 with 44 seconds to go, Olsen kept Villanova in the game with a driving lay-up. Villanova then forced a turnover and made it a 51-47 game at the 38 second mark when Olsen made another lay-up.

Butler's Karsyn Norman made two free throws on Butler's next possession and the Bulldogs held a 53-47 advantage with 31 seconds to go. Villanova called timeout and advanced the ball to the front court where they ran a sideline out of bounds play and got Olsen a three from the corner that made it a one possession game at 53-50 with 19 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs put the game away when Strande made two foul shots to give Butler the 55-50 lead with 13 seconds to go.

Olsen led the Wildcats in the loss with 21 points, while Runyan added nine points, six assists and five rebounds. Dalce finished with seven points, 14 rebounds and a career-high tying seven blocked shots.
Butler was paced by Strande with 19 points and nine rebounds and Jaynes who finished with 12 points.

For the game, Villanova was 21-of-59 from the field (35.6%), 6-of-25 from three (24.0%) and 4-of-5 from the foul line (80.0%), while Butler shot 38.9 percent from the floor (21-of-54), 35.7 percent from long distance (5-of-14) and 72.7 percent from the charity stripe (8-of-11). Butler owned a 40-34 advantage on the backboards.
Villanova returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 21, when the Providence College Friars come to town. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
 
NOTES: Villanova had won seven in a row over Butler before today's loss…The Wildcats fall to 8-4 at home…Denise Dillon is now 8-1 all-time against Butler…Lucy Olsen moved past Michele Thornton and into 20^th on Villanova's all-time scoring list with 1,271 points…Olsen now has 17 games of 20 points or more this season…Christina Dalce tallied her 26^th career double figure rebounding game and 14^th of the season.