The Butler women battled the nation's top-ranked team on Wednesday night in the Power Plant, but came up short in a 58-45 loss to Hutchinson.

The Blue Dragons, who moved to the top spot in the national poll earlier in the day, quickly found themselves trailing 7-2 against the Grizzlies. Hutch would go ahead 10-7, but the Grizzlies quickly answered and went up 12-10 on a 3-pointer by Katie Andersen midway through the half.

Butler would lead by as many as four points before Hutch came back later in the half and took a 24-22 lead into intermission.

Hutchinson started slowly in the second half, but not as slowly as the Grizzlies, who would go nearly five minutes before scoring a field goal. By that point, Butler was down nine points. The Grizzlies had a chance to get as close as five points with about three minutes to go, but couldn't score a basket on that possession and eventually saw the difference grow to double figures late.

Butler was led by Ashlee Ivy with 12 points, while Katie Andersen and Carly Bettencourt had 10 points apiece. Jamillah Bonner led the team with 10 rebounds and added five points. The leading scorer in the game was Hutchinson's Jamie Patrick with 18.

The loss is the first of the year for Butler at home after seven straight wins. It also drops Butler to 12-4 overall and 0-2 in Jayhawk Conference action, with both defeats coming at the hands of opponents ranked in the top 10 nationally.

The Grizzlies will try to snap the two-game losing skid with a game Saturday at Barton County. The Cougars are 11-5 overall and 1-2 in conference with losses at Seward and Garden and a home win over Dodge City.