Turnovers plague Grizzlies in road loss at Cowley

ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. — For the first time under Butler head coach Mike Helmer, the Grizzly women allowed an opponent to score over 100 points, as the Cowley women snapped a four-game losing skid for a 109-86 win over the Grizzlies Wednesday night at W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley received a career night from freshman guard Seanna Boltz, who scored 41 points and set a Tigers' school-record with 11 3-pointers in the win. Boltz hit 11-of-20 3-point attempts and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. 

The Tigers forced 30 Grizzly turnovers, which resulted in 33 points against Butler (16-7 overall, 9-4 conference), who fell into a 10-0 hole to start the contest and trailed by as many as 30 on the night.

Butler's previous high for points allowed under Helmer came during his second season, as the Grizzlies lost 99-87 to Penn Valley (Mo.) back on Nov. 13, 2009. The Grizzlies had not allowed an opponent to score 100 or more points since a 102-56 loss at Barton back on Feb. 20, 2008.

The 109 points allowed are the fifth-most scored by an opponent against Butler, as Cowley was just six points shy of matching the all-time opponent scoring record of 115 (at Barton; Feb. 21, 1981).

Cowley's 10-0 run along with having leading scorer Tamara Nard on the bench just 2:48 into the contest was not the start Butler was looking for. The Tigers took advantage of Nard's absence and led by as many as 16 in the opening quarter, courtesy of nine Grizzly turnovers. A late 3-pointer by Camille Downs cut Cowley's lead down to 11 at the end of the first, while Boltz pumped in 17 points for the Tigers and hit three 3-pointers for a 29-18 lead.

The Grizzlies continued to struggle with the Tigers' pressure throughout the second quarter, turning the ball over ten times in the quarter for a total of 19 turnovers in the half. The miscues turned into points for Cowley, who scored 24 of its 55 first-half points off of Grizzly turnovers.

A key 15-1 run by Cowley in the quarter helped the Tigers extend their lead to as many as 26 points before field goals by Downs and RaVon Nero pulled Butler within 55-32 at the break.

With Nard back on the court for the second half, Butler opened with a 6-2 run to cut Cowley's lead to 19. Nard scored 14 of her 20 points in the third quarter, as the Grizzlies closed within 19 four times early in the quarter.

Nard added a pair of field goals to pull Butler within 21 points, 90-69, with 7:21 remaning, but Boltz single-handledly killed any chance of a late Grizzly run, as she hit three consecutive treys to put the Tigers back up by 30.

RaVon Nero led the Grizzlies with a team-high 25 points, five rebounds and five assists. Tamara Nard finished with 20 points and four rebounds while Camille Downs was the only other Grizzly in double figures chalking up 13 points on the night.

Cowley finished shooting 41.5 percent (17-of-41) from behind the arc and made 86.7 percent from the foul line (26-of-30). Butler made 45.8 percent (33-of-72) from the field, but struggled from 3-point land, where they made just 20 percent (3-of-15). The Grizzlies finished with a 77.3 percent clip (17-of-22) from the charity stripe.

Butler did outrebound Cowley 50-37, but the Tigers scored 20 second-chance points to the Grizzlies' 15.

Butler (16-7, 9-4) will look to bounce back on Saturday as they host the Red Ravens of Coffeyville (19-4, 9-4) in the Power Plant at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday's loss moved Butler back into a tie with the Red Ravens for first place in the Jayhawk East standings.