Women's Basketball Game Notes vs. Butler

FRIARS BEGIN WEEKEND SLATE WITH BUTLER... The Friars will host Butler on Friday, Feb. 11 at Alumni Hall in Providence, R.I. It marks the first of two home games for PC this weekend, as the squad will welcome Xavier on Sunday. The Friars' match-up with the Bulldogs is scheduled to tip at 7:00 p.m. on the BIG EAST Digital Network via FloSports.

FRIARS TO FACE BUTLER TWICE IN A SIX-DAY SPAN... The Friars and Bulldogs will face one another twice in a span of six days. Butler travels to Providence for the first meeting on Feb. 11 at Alumni Hall. After completing the weekend with Xavier on Sunday, Providence will hit the road to face Butler for a second time on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. This game was originally scheduled for Jan. 2, but could not be played due to COVID issues within the Providence program.

FRIARS AND BULLDOGS ALL-TIME... Providence and Butler have met 18 times during the history of the two women's basketball programs. Butler leads the all-time series, 11-7, but the Friars have claimed wins in five of the last seven games, including each of the last three.

WHAT HAPPENED IN 2020-21... The Friars posted a 3-0 record against the Bulldogs last season. Providence swept the regular-season series and went on to defeat Butler in the BIG EAST Tournament First Round (63-61). The two regular-season wins were decided by double digits, including a 73-52 victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse. In that game, Kyra Spiwak '21 scored a career-high 28 points while shooting 10-17 from the field overall and hitting 8-12 three point tries. Providence earned a 62-50 victory later in the season at Alumni Hall, as four Friars scored in double-figures. In the BIG EAST Tournament, the Friars fell behind 32-25 at halftime and fought back to claim a two-point victory (63-61). Providence used a 5-2 spurt to open the fourth quarter to take its first lead of the game since the 1:25 mark of the first quarter (52-51). Mary Baskerville converted two free throws with 28-seconds remaining in the game and then pulled down a critical defensive rebound after Butler fired off three-consecutive three pointers to try and win the game in the closing seconds. Alyssa Geary paced the Friars with 19 points and nine rebounds.

FRIARS AND BULLDOGS AT ALUMNI HALL... Providence and Butler have met eight times at Alumni Hall. The Bulldogs won four of the first five meetings against Providence on its home court, but the Friars have responded to earn victories in two of the last three meetings at the facility.

FRIARS AND BULLDOGS IN OVERTIME... Providence holds a 2-1 record vs. Butler in overtime games. On Jan. 18, 2019, the Friars and Bulldogs played an epic three-overtime game, which resulted in a 74-68 win for Providence. It marked just the fourth triple-overtime game in BIG EAST women's basketball history.

ROAD WARRIORS... After wrapping up a pair of home games against Butler and Xavier this weekend, the Friars will play four of it's last five games on the road. The closing stretch of the season includes three road games in five days vs. Butler (Feb. 16), Seton Hall (Feb. 18) and St. John's (Feb. 20).

JANAI CROOMS IS LOCKED IN... Janai Crooms leads the Friars in scoring (14.2 ppg), rebounding (8.4 rpg) and assists (3.7 apg) through the 21 games she has played, while shooting 47-percent from the field (112-238). Crooms has hit double-figures in the scoring column in each of the last five games, including a career-high 27 points against UConn. During the five game stretch, she has averaged 18.0 points per game and has shot 52-percent from the field (32-62). In three of the five games, she has posted a field-goal percentage above 60-percent.

HEATING UP FROM DEEP... Janai Crooms' three-point shooting of late has added another dimension to her offensive arsenal. In her first 17 games this season, Crooms was 3-11 from three-point land. In the last four games, Crooms has hit 6-9 shots from deep (.667).

FRIARS IN OVERTIME... Providence is 2-1 in overtime games this season. Both of their wins during overtime have come on the road against Maine (66-61) and Georgetown (66-58). The Friars lone loss in OT came at home against Yale (63-57) in the 2021-22 season opener.

FULL STRENGTH... On Jan. 11 against Xavier, the Friars suited an entire roster of healthy players for the first time during the 2021-22 season. Four different players on the roster have missed seven-or-more games on the year due to injury, including Mary Baskerville, Kylee Sheppard, Nariah Scott and Grace Efosa. Providence has remained at full strength for each of the last nine games.

DEFENSE... The Friars have held six opponents to 50 points or less this season, including three BIG EAST opponents: Villanova (47), Xavier (49) and St. John's (49). The Friars are 6-0 in those games, including a 3-0 mark in the BIG EAST Conference.

CLEANING THE GLASS... Providence has recorded 40+ rebounds in 11 of its 22 games, including two games with 50+ boards. Last year, Providence eclipsed 40 rebounds in just one game (49 vs. Butler, 3/5/21) .

DOUBLE-TROUBLE... Janai Crooms leads the Friars and ranks third in the BIG EAST with six double-doubles. Mary Baskerville (2), Olivia Olsen (1) and Alyssa Geary (1) also have recorded double-doubles for the Friars this season. Additionally, Baskerville has 19 double-doubles in her career, which ranks fourth in the BIG EAST among active players.

FRIARS AMONG THE TOP SHOT-BLOCKING TEAMS IN THE NATION... The Friars lead the BIG EAST and rank fifth in the nation in blocked shots per game (6.1 bpg) and seventh in the nation in total blocks (134). Mary Baskerville leads the Friars with an average of 2.4 rejections per game. Five players on the team have cracked double-digits in blocked shots and have combined for 108 of the Friars' 134 rejections overall: Baskerville (36), Crooms (24), Alyssa Geary (23), Olivia Olsen (16) and Emily Archibald (11).

FRIARS' 134 BLOCKED SHOTS ARE TIED FOR FOURTH-MOST IN PROGRAM HISTORY... The Friars have recorded 134 blocked shots this season, with seven regular-season games left on the schedule. The Friars' 134 blocked shots are tied for the fourth-highest total in program history for a single season. The single-season record for blocked shots was set in 1977-78 (190).

MORE REJECTION... The Friars recorded a season-high 11 blocks against Xavier on Jan. 11. It marked the second time this year that the team has registered double-digit blocks. Prior to this season, the last time the Friars recorded double-digit blocks in a game was on Nov. 12, 2013 against Bryant.

FRIARS LEAD THE BIG EAST IN FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE... Providence is tied for the BIG EAST lead and ranks 63rd in the nation in field-goal percentage defense among 348 teams (.370). The Friars have posted an 9-5 record this season when holding it's opponents below 40-percent from the field.

MARY BASKERVILLE RANKS AMONG NCAA DIVISION I ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS IN BLOCKED SHOTS AND BLOCKS PER GAME... Mary Baskerville ranks 25th among NCAA Division I active career leaders in blocks per game (1.80 bpg). In 98 games at Providence, Baskerville has recorded 176 blocked shots. Her career total ranks second among active BIG EAST players, trailing only UConn's Olivia Nelson-Ododa. She also ranks 24th among NCAA active career leaders in total blocks.

MARY BASKERVILLE WORKING HER WAY UP THE FRIARS' ALL-TIME SCORING LIST... Mary Baskerville currently owns 1,040 career points and ranks 30th on the Friars' all-time scoring.

MARY BASKERVILLE RANKS 15th ALL-TIME AT PROVIDENCE IN CAREER REBOUNDS... Senior Mary Baskerville ranks 15th all-time in career boards at Providence with 684. She is five rebounds shy of taking sole possession of 14th place, currently held by Nadine Malcolm '97 (688).

JANAI CROOMS RANKS 14TH AT PROVIDENCE CAREER ASSISTS... Janai Crooms owns 313 career assists and is tied for 13th on the Friars' all-time list. In 104 career games, Crooms is averaging 3.0 assists per game.

FLIRTING WITH THE PROGRAM'S FIRST TRIPLE-DOUBLE... Janai Crooms has narrowly missed out on a bid for a triple-double in three games this season. On Nov. 20 against Boston College, she finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Against Hartford on Dec. 1, she logged 25 points, 11 boards and eight assists. On Dec. 8 against Brown, Crooms put up 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. In the program's 48-year existence, a Friar has never recorded a triple-double.

OLIVIA OLSEN MAKING THE MOST OF HER TIME ON THE COURT... Freshmen forward Olivia Olsen has provided a spark off the bench for the Friars in her first season. Olsen plays roughly 17 minutes per game for the Friars, shooting an efficient 59-percent from the field (58-99) and averaging 6.5 points, 4.6 rebounds per game. She tied for third on the team in rebounding, and is second in offensive boards (39).

ROOKIE IMPACT... Freshman point guard Kylee Sheppard missed nine of the Friars first 11 games while battling injury. She has appeared in each of the last 11 games for Providence and has played in 13 games overall. In a small sample size of the season, she has played a key role and currently ranks second on the team in scoring (11.1 ppg), first in steals (1.8 spg) and second in assists (2.5 apg). She also contributes 3.7 rebounds per game. She has reached double digits in the scoring column six times, including a career-best 22 points against DePaul. She eclipsed the 20-point mark for a second time in Providence's victory over Georgetown on Jan. 23. Sheppard drained 21 points against the Hoyas, including seven in overtime.

AUDREY KOCH CRACKS DOUBLE FIGURES... On Jan. 28, freshmen Audrey Koch came off the bench in the Friars' game against Creighton and cracked double digits in the scoring column for the first time as a Friar. In just 20 minutes of action, she netted 13 points on 5-7 shooting, including a 2-3 effort from beyond the arc.

MARY BASKERVILLE NAMED TO ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM AT THE CONCLUSION OF 2020-21 SEASON... Last season, Mary Baskerville led Providence College in scoring (12.7 ppg), rebounding (6.5 rpg), blocked shots (1.8 bpg), steals (1.4 spg) and field-goal percentage (.538, 112-208). For her efforts, she was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team. It marked her first postseason honor since earning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and BIG EAST All-Freshman Team accolades in 2019.

CLEARED FOR TAKE-OFF... The NCAA cleared Janai Crooms to play during the 2021-22 season on Nov. 4, prior to the Friars' exhibition game against Bentley. Crooms was a four-star recruit and ranked No. 36 in 2018 class by Prospect Nation coming out of St. Andrew's (Barrington, R.I.). She played two seasons at Ohio State (2018-20) before transferring to Michigan State for the 2020-21 campaign. Crooms has two years of eligibility remaining, including the current 2021-22 seasons.

PROVIDENCE PICKED TO FINISH EIGHTH IN BIG EAST PRESEASON COACHES' POLL... The Friars were picked to finish eighth in the 2021-22 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was released at the league's annual media day at MSG in New York City. The Friars recorded 32 points in the poll and sit above Georgetown (27), Xavier (18) and Butler (17). Connecticut was a unanimous selection to win the league for a second-straight season.

FRIARS IN THE POSTSEASON... The Friars' last appeared in the postseason during the 2018-19 campaign, when their current senior class came on to the scene as freshmen. Providence's 2019 WNIT selection marked the program's 15th post-season appearance overall and first since 2010. In 2019-20, NCAA and WNIT Championships were canceled to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Friars did not qualify for postseason during the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign. Complete post-season breakdown follows (records in parentheses):

2018-19 WNIT Round of 16 (2-1)
2009-10 WNIT Quarterfinal Round (3-1)
1991-92 NCAA Tournament First Round (0-1)
1990-91 NCAA Tournament Second Round (1-1)
1989-90 NCAA Tournament East Regional (1-1)
1988-89 NCAA Tournament First Round (0-1)
1986-87 National Women's Invitational Tournament (1-2)
1985-86 NCAA Tournament First Round (0-1)
1981-82 EAIAW Regional Tournament (0-1)
1980-81 EAIAW Regional Tournament (0-1)
1979-80 EAIAW National Tournament (3-1)
1978-79 EAIAW Regional Tournament (0-1)
1977-78 EAIAW Regional Tournament (1-1)
1976-77 EAIAW Regional Tournament (2-2)
1975-76 EAIAW Regional Tournament (1-2)

WHAT'S NEXT... The Friars will remain home at Alumni Hall to face Xavier in BIG EAST regular-season action on Sunday, Feb. 13. Tip-off is slated for Noon and the game will be nationally televised on FS1.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Emily Archibald

Mary Baskerville

Janai Crooms

Alyssa Geary

Audrey Koch

Olivia Olsen

Nariah Scott

Kylee Sheppard

Kyra Spiwak

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus #1/1 Connecticut on December 31, 2025 , Loss , 53, to, 90

Completed Event: Women's Basketball at DePaul on January 4, 2026 , Win , 69, to, 59

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus Seton Hall on January 8, 2026 , Loss , 48, to, 58

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus Villanova on January 11, 2026 , Loss , 55, to, 85

Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Butler on January 14, 2026 , Loss , 52, to, 62

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Creighton on January 17, 2026 at 1:00 PM

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at Seton Hall on January 20, 2026 at 7:00 PM

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at Villanova on January 27, 2026 at 7:00 PM

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus St. John's on January 31, 2026 at 1:00 PM

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at Marquette on February 4, 2026 at 7:30 PM (ET)

Providence College Athletics