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Bloomington, Ind. -- The Indiana University women’s basketball team took home its first win of the season against the Butler Bulldogs, 86-63 on Wednesday night. Indiana improves its all-time record in the series against the Bulldogs, 8-1.

As a team, the Hoosiers went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line and had only nine turnovers while Butler had 18 turnovers throughout the night. The Hoosiers had a 52.2 shooting percentage from the floor (35-for-67), had 24 assists, and won on the boards 32-24 as a team.

Graduate student Nicole Cardaño-Hillary led the Hoosiers with 29 points, setting a new personal IU record.

Cardaño-Hillary went 10-for-11 from the floor and 7-for-8 from the 3-point line. In a single game, Cardaño-Hillary is tied for third place with 7 triples in program history.

“Whatever we fed Nikki tonight, we got to keep feeding her,” Head Coach Teri Moren said. “I thought she was terrific outside the arc."

Key players Grace Berger had 18 points to add to Cardaño-Hillary’s 29. Mackenzie Holmes added 11 and Kiandra Browne added 10 points coming off of the bench.

Berger joined the 1,000 career points club, by becoming the 29th player in the school history and program. Berger joins Ali Patberg who holds 1,374 points.

"Grace Berger is Grace Berger, she’s really good," Moren said.

Patberg continued her streak of five or more assists per game as she had 10 assists tonight, marking this as her fourth career game with 10 or more assists.

“I was really happy with and proud of Ali Patberg,” Coach Moren explained. “She goes 2-for-10, 0-for-6 from the 3-point line, but she still has 10 assists. That’s such a great lesson for your players because we talk all the time about getting caught up in your stats with points and rebounds.

"Some nights when your shot is not following through, there are other ways you can help your team win, and she’s a great example tonight for all of our team, but especially those young guys who are trying to figure this stuff out. You can still impact the game even though your shot might not go down, like tonight for her.”

Throughout the first quarter, Holmes had five points putting the Hoosiers on top for an early lead against the Bulldogs. Holmes led the Hoosiers with eight rebounds and hit her first career 3-pointer of the upcoming season.

The Hoosiers would outscore Butler, 26-17 throughout the fourth quarter, leading to an overall win.

Watch the No. 7 Indiana Hoosiers take on the No. 13 Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday, November 14th, for the home opener. Tip-off is at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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