Lady Grizzlies pull away late to defeat Cowley and remain unbeaten

Looking to hand No. 6-ranked Butler Community College its first loss of the season, the Cowley College women's basketball team held a slim 65-64 fourth quarter lead before the Lady Grizzlies responded with a 21-2 run to pull away for the 89-75 road win.

Cowley, 9-6 overall and 7-6 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division, has held fourth quarter leads in four of its six losses.

"Unfortunately, we have seen this before," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. "We have got to find a way to finish better and come away with the win."

Butler improves its record to 13-0 on the season and 12-0 in the conference.

The first half was close throughout with Butler leading 28-24 at the end of the first quarter and 47-44 heading into halftime. Cowley out-scored Butler 14-2 on points off turnovers to keep the game close.

Trailing 62-60 entering the fourth quarter, Cowley grabbed a 65-64 lead following a free-throw by Ryley Beard with 8:47 remaining. However, Butler would score the next 11 points and a pair of free throws by Paris Mullins capped the Lady Grizzlies' 21-2 run and gave Butler a commanding 85-67 lead with just under two minutes left to play.

"We really executed well for the majority of the game and had good looks in the fourth quarter, the ball just did not go in," Clark said.

The Grizzlies out-rebounded Cowley 64-34 and out-scored the Lady Tigers 24-10 from the foul line as Cowley made just 10-of-24 free-throw attempts. Tamara Nard was a big reason Butler dominated the battle of the boards as the 6'2 sophomore finished with a game-high 28 points and 16 rebounds.

Freshman Baylee Fincher led Cowley with 18 points, while post player Martyna Kowalska finished with 14 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting. Seanna Boltz added 17 points, but made just 6-of-25 attempts from the floor.

Playing her first game in a month, Shontrice Austin came off the bench to finish with six points, seven rebounds and five assists. However, the sophomore went 0-for-9 from the foul line.

Cowley forced Butler into 29 turnovers, 12 of which came from Lady Grizzlies' point guard Skyla Knight. However, Knight made up for her turnovers by finishing with 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots.

Cowley will face an important road test Saturday at Cloud County at 2 p.m. The Lady Tigers are a half game ahead of Cloud in the conference standings.

"Cloud is always a tough place to play and are well-coached," Clark said. "We will have to play well and make some shots in order to win."

Box score:

Butler (89): Skyla Knight 5-13 4-5 15, Cameron Downs 0-1 0-0 0, Carissa Beck 2-6 3-4 9, Paris Mullins 6-10 4-4 16, Tamara Nard 12-19 4-7 28, Kaylee Nero 2-5 1-2 5, Syncere Harrod 0-3 3-6 3, Mekayla Furman 1-3 4-6 6, Riley Hett 0-1 1-2 1, Maddie Livingston 0-0 0-0 0, Cymirah Williams 3-6 0-0 6. Totals: 31-67 24-36 89.

Cowley (75): Baylee Fincher 6-14 4-5 18, Jayden Marlnee 0-1 0-0 0, Seanna Boltz 6-25 0-0 17, Kalyne Daniels 1-6 2-4 4, Martyna Kowalska 6-9 2-2 14, Teagan Brouwer 1-2 0-0 2, Milena Fromming 0-4 0-0 0, Ryley Beard 4-13 1-2 13, Shamara Henderson 0-0 1-2 1, Shontrice Austin 3-4 0-9 6. Totals: 27-78 10-24 75.

Three-pointers: Butler 3-8 (Beck 2-5, Knight 1-2, Furman 0-1), Cowley 11-46 (Boltz 5-22, Beard 4-12, Fincher 2-7, Fromming 0-4, Daniels 0-1). Rebounds: Butler 64 (Nard 16), Cowley 34 (Kowalska 9). Assists: Butler 17 (Knight 5), Cowley 16 (Austin 5). Turnovers: Butler 29, Cowley 16. Total fouls: Butler 19, Cowley 26. Fouled out: none. Technicals: Fincher.