Butler had two players with 20 or more points as the Grizzlies yet again rolled to another lopsided non-conference home win on Saturday, beating Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa 84-48 at the Power Plant.
Ashlee Ivy scored a career-high 21 points while Jamillah Bonner posted a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds as the Grizzlies won big at home yet again. The Grizzlies are 7-0 in the Power Plant this season with only one of those games, a 71-64 win over Cowley, being decided by fewer than 23 points. Butler's average margin of victory in those seven games is 31.3 points.
Butler started somewhat slowly in this game, trailing 4-1 early on. The Grizzlies used a 19-2 run over the next eight minutes to take control of the contest, leading 20-6 after an Aaliyah Rutledge layup with 9:57 left in the half. The Grizzlies then led 36-19 at the break.
Northern would get no closer than 15 points for the rest of the game. Jamillah Bonner made a layup with 14:30 to play that put Butler up 47-27 and a 3-pointer by Ashlee Ivy with 7:07 to play put Butler up 65-35. The lead would reach as many as 40 points when Chelsea Hodison made a jumper with 2:13 to play that made the score 82-42.
Ivy and Bonner were the only two Grizzlies to score in double figures, but Hodison scored nine points and Aaliyah Rutlege and Tysia Manual had eight points apiece while Katie Anderson added seven.
Butler did not shoot the ball particularly well, especially making just one of seven 3-point attempts, but did force 34 Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa turnovers.
The Grizzlies are now 11-2 on the season, which is the best start to a season under fifth-year head coach Mike Helmer. The Grizzlies wrap up both the non-conference and first semester portion of their schedule next Saturday with a trip to Redlands (Okla.). The Grizzlies will be looking for a season sweep after beating the Cougars 72-48 at home in November. Game time has been moved back 30 minutes from its original time and is now scheduled to tip at 2:30 p.m.
