Butler women recover from 23-point deficit for road win at Indy

INDEPENDENCE, Kan. – The Butler women railed from a 23-point deficit to defeat Independence 69-61 Saturday night at the Fieldhouse.

Butler (15-5 overall, 8-2 conference) trailed 32-9 early in the second quarter and went into halftime down 35-20, as the Pirates hit 50 percent (8-of-16) from beyond the perimeter.

The Grizzlies roared back with a 12-0 run to begin the third quarter and closed within one, 39-38, near the midway mark of the quarter.

An Independence 7-0 run pushed the Pirates lead back to 46-38 with 3:53 remaining in the quarter, but Butler answered with 13 consecutive points to take a 51-46 lead.

Butler tied the game at 46-all during the run after consecutive 3-pointers from Maddy Willis-Rosa and Carissa Beck. Wills-Rosa then broke the tie with a trey from the top of the perimeter near the 1:35 mark.

After taking a 51-46 lead into the final quarter, Butler continued to pull away from the Pirates, leading by as many as 12. With Butler leading 53-51, Beck jumpstarted a 10-0 run with a 3-pointer from the far corner.

Butler took an early 4-3 lead in the contest on consecutive baskets from Tamara Nard. Independence punched back with a 16-0 run for a 19-4 lead, then stretched the margin to 23 just two minutes into the second quarter.

Butler's victory marks its sixth straight win and keeps the Grizzlies in first place atop the Jayhawk East standings by a half-game over Coffeyville.

Next up for the Grizzlies will be a road conference match at Garden City on Monday, which was rescheduled from Jan. 11. The Broncbusters (7-11, 2-7) picked up just their second conference win of the season Saturday with a 74-65 road win at Northwest Kansas Tech.