Cold shooting hurts Butler in 70-56 loss at Dodge City

DODGE CITY, Kan. – The Butler women struggled with their shooting in a 70-56 to Dodge City at the Civic Center on Wednesday.

Dodge City scored the first 11 points of the game before Imari Bell got Butler on the board. The Conquistadors pushed the lead to 21-5 at the end of the first quarter, which is Butler's lowest scoring quarter of the season. The previous low had been seven in the first quarter of a home loss to Garden City on Nov. 30.

Butler briefly cut the deficit to 11 points early in the second quarter, but later in the period Dodge City would hit three 3-pointers in a row and pushed the lead to 20 at 33-13 with 7:11 to play before halftime.

The lead ballooned to 24 points just before the half as the Conquistadors were up 44-20 at the break.

Butler twice cut the gap to 20 points in the third quarter, but trailed 60-35 going to the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies pulled within as close as 12 points with under a minute to play.

Butler shot just 25 percent from the floor (19-of-76) and was 15 percent from 3-point range (3-of-20). Dodge City, meanwhile, was 46 percent overall (20-of-44) and 44 percent from 3-point range (8 of 18).

The loss breaks a decade-long 17-game winning streak over Dodge City dating back to the 2005-06 season.

Imari Bell led Butler with 14 points, just missing a double-double with nine rebounds. She was the only Grizzly in double figures. Nia Roberts had nine points while Janee Arnold, Raven Prince and Hayley Leeper had seven points apiece.

Butler falls to 13-4 overall and 3-3 in Jayhawk Conference play. The Grizzlies will host No. 8-ranked Hutchinson on Saturday in a 5:30 p.m. tipoff at the Power Plant.