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Butler and St. John’s will play inside Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon. The 5:30 p.m. contest is part two of a doubleheader that will follow the St. John’s men’s team hosting Creighton at 3 p.m. This will be the first time the BU women’s program has ever played at the “World’s Most Famous Arena.”
GameDay
Date: Sunday, February 16, 2025
Time: 5:30 PM ET
Location: New York, N.Y. – Madison Square Garden
Live Stats: RedStormSports.com (Statbroadcast)
Watch: FloHoops.com
Bulldog Bits
– Sunday’s game will be the only meeting between Butler and St. John’s this season.
– The contest is also Butler’s first time playing at Madison Square Garden.
– Butler swept Georgetown in the regular season series, winning by 10 at home and by six in D.C.
– The victory on Wednesday doubled as Butler’s first BIG EAST road win of the season.
– Butler’s 76-point performance at McDonough was their highest scoring BIG EAST game of the season.
– BU shot 57.4 percent against the Hoyas, their best shooting display of the year.
– The ‘Dawgs shot 50 percent from 3-point range at GU, their second-best effort from deep this year.
– Butler has reached 20 assists as a team in two of their last three games.
– The ‘Dawgs have made 42 3-pointers over their last four games, shooting 45 percent during that stretch.
– Six more 3-pointers on Sunday vs. St. John’s will push Butler’s team total to 200.
– McGuff has made 17 3-pointers over her last four games, shooting 56 percent during that stretch.
– Butler has opened their last two games on an 8-0 scoring run.
– Kilyn McGuff was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday.
– McGuff and Riley Makalusky each recorded 16 points in the win at Georgetown.
– Makalusky tied her season-high scoring total and led Butler from distance going 4-for-5.
– Sydney Jaynes set season-high totals at GU in points (18) and made field goals (8).
– Jaynes scored 12 of Butler’s 20 points in the third quarter against Georgetown.
– Jaynes has led BU in scoring five times this year.
BIG EAST Standings
UConn 14-0, 23-3
Creighton 12-1, 20-4
Seton Hall 9-4, 17-7
Marquette 8-5, 16-8
Villanova 8-5, 14-11
DePaul 7-7, 12-15
Butler 4-10, 14-13
Georgetown 4-9, 11-13
Providence 4-10, 11-16
St. John’s 3-10, 13-11
Xavier 1-13, 6-19
Scouting St. John’s
The Red Storm lost at UConn on Wednesday night to move their overall record to 13-11. Lashae Dwyer and Ber’Nyah Mayo scored 21 of St. John’s 40 points. The Johnnies never got comfortable at Gampel Pavilion shooting 25 percent from the field and 21 percent from 3-point range. Dwyer and Mayo are the top two scorers on St. John’s roster, but head coach Joe Tartamella relies heavily on his defense to win games. The Red Storm rank second in the BIG EAST in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 56 points per game. They also rank third in steals per game, averaging 8.8 per game. Dwyer is the league leader in steals (71) and steals per game (2.96). She had a game-high four at UConn to go along with her 11 points, four rebounds and two assists.
All-Time Series
St. John’s leads Butler in the all-time series 16-5. The Bulldogs won the last matchup 64-59 at Hinkle Fieldhouse, but have not won in New York since Feb. 1, 2019. That was an overtime thriller with BU winning by five, 73-68. Since that overtime victory, the Red Storm are 8-1 against the Bulldogs.
Last Game vs. The Johnnies
Butler notched a 64-59 victory against St. John’s last year at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs shot 42 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3-point range (11-24) to record their first win over St. John’s since Feb. 1, 2019! Second half action featured Butler outscoring the Johnnies 35-28. Riley Makalusky had 10 points, Karsyn Norman added eight and Sydney Jaynes was in the box score with seven. The Bulldogs outrebounded St. John’s 38-28 and outscored the Red Storm 17-2 in fast break points.
McGuff Named to BIG EAST Honor Roll
McGuff averaged 20.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in a 1-1 week for BU, shooting 60 percent from the field (14-23) and 64 percent from 3-point range (9-14). She had 19 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and a block vs. Villanova. On Sunday, she led Butler to a 67-65 victory over Marquette with 21 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. McGuff leads the BIG EAST in double-doubles (10), ranks third in rebounds per game (8.2), and fourth in made 3-pointers (49).
Net Rankings
Butler moved up three spots in the NET rankings (114) after winning at Georgetown. The Bulldogs could make another jump this weekend if they can win at St. John’s, a program listed at #77 in the latest rankings.
BIG EAST Leaders
Butler leads the BIG EAST in free throw attempts per game (17.4) and free throws made per game (12.4). Kilyn McGuff attacks the rim more than any other Bulldogs. She is the ninth best free throw shooter in the conference, making 77.1 percent of her attempts. McGuff has attempted 96 free throws this year, that’s 22 more than Lily Carmody who ranks second on the team in attempts with 74.
Fun In February
Butler went 5-2 during the month of February last year collecting wins against St. John’s, Providence, Villanova, Xavier, and DePaul. Four of those five wins came by seven points or less. The ‘Dawgs are now attempting to win three-straight conference games for the first time this year. They won back-to-back games vs. Providence and Georgetown in January. A win over St. John’s would be huge in the conference standings giving the ‘Dawgs the tiebreaker over both the Red Storm and the Hoyas.
Tournament Talk
The upcoming BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Tournament will be played at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Tournament coverage begins with a first-round tripleheader on Friday, March 7. The title game will be played on Monday, March 10. If the season ended today, Butler would play as the No. 7 seed against No. 10 seed St. John’s.
Kilyn Reaches 1,000 Career Points
Kilyn McGuff reached 1,000 career points in the second half of Butler’s game at #6 UConn. She scored a team-high 17 against the Huskies to move her career total to 1,006. She has scored 339 points as a Bulldog and had 723 over her previous three years at Belmont.
600 Club
Kilyn McGuff grabbed 10 rebounds on Jan. 26 to push her career total over 600. McGuff leads the team with 221 rebounds this season and will need 45 more this season to break into the single-season top ten list in the Butler record book (8.8 per game).
What’s Missing?
Caroline Strande and Jordan Meulemans are both out for the season. Meulemans was sidelined just days before Butler’s first game and Strande suffered a season-ending injury on Dec. 29 vs. Seton Hall. Strande was a Second Team All-BIG EAST selection last year and became the first Bulldog in program history to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists during the same season. Meulemans made 61 3-pointers last year, shooting 42 percent from behind the arc.
18 3-Pointers
Butler set a single-game program record against Saint Francis by hitting 18 3-pointers. Eight different players made at least one 3-pointer and no Bulldog made more than four. As a team, BU shot 56.3 percent from behind the arc, making 18 of their 32 attempts.
10 Wins
BU recorded 10 non-conference wins for just the second time since joining the BIG EAST. Butler went 6-2 in November, highlighting the month with a 56-46 home win over Indiana. The victory came in front of a record-setting crowd of 4,135 fans.
Up Next
Butler has two home games left on the schedule. BU will host Xavier Wednesday night at 7 p.m. and then face #7 UConn Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out crowd!
