The Butler women’s basketball team takes on Creighton in the first round of the 2019 Big East Tournament as Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulldogs enter the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed after finishing 21-8 overall and 11-7 in the conference play.
Butler’s quarterfinals matchup will be March 10 at 9:30 pm EST on Fox Sports 2. Butler and Creighton have met twice in the conference tournament and the Bluejays boast a 2-0 record in those matchups.
Butler’s success against Creighton this season
Butler has dominated Creighton this season both at Hinkle Fieldhouse and on the road in Omaha. The Bulldogs won the two matchups against the Bluejays by an average of 26 points per contest. Four Bulldogs scored in double figures on both occasions led by Katherine Strong who scored 23 points in the first contest. In the second matchup, Kristen Spolyar led the Bulldogs with 13 points followed by four more Butler players with eight points or more.
Creighton struggled to score the basketball in both contests as the Bulldogs held the Bluejays to 30 percent shooting or less in both matchups. Over the two games, Creighton was 12-of-52 from beyond the arc and shot under 65 percent from the free throw line.
What the road looks like for Butler
The road to a Big East Tournament championship is tough for Butler as they have to go through both DePaul and Marquette to get there. If the Bulldogs beat Creighton, the Blue Demons, a team Butler has lost to twice this season, would presumably be waiting for a semifinal matchup. If the Bulldogs make their way to the title game, the Bulldogs will have to get through a top-25 opponent in Marquette who controlled the conference all year. Butler got the better of Marquette in their most recent matchup upsetting the Golden Eagles on the road 61-57. Despite the success, Marquette is the consensus best team in the conference and will be a tough team to knock off twice in the same season.
Tournament chances for the Bulldogs
Much like the Butler men’s basketball team, the women have been dancing around the bubble for the last several weeks. At the end of the regular season, ESPN’s women’s bracketologist, Charlie Creme, predicts Butler to be one of the first four teams out and that prediction is shared across multiple predictions for the NCAA Tournament. However, the Bulldogs will have the opportunity to knock off two predicted Tournament teams in DePaul and Marquette. The Bulldogs are one of the few bubble teams with the chance to knock off tournament teams they have had success against this season. A win against DePaul and a loss to Marquette in the title game might be enough, but an automatic bid as the Big East Tournament champions is the best bet for the Bulldogs to go dancing.
